Lake/Mchenry County Pollinator Pathway

02/27/2026

01/31/2026

Already getting the itch to start seeds and get outside planting? Do some research first and find out what is best for our local pollinators, your growing conditions, and fits this various attributes you're looking for. That way, when spring hits, you're going to be ready!

Here are some great resources I like to share:

Beginner Friendly
Morton Arboretum Native Plant Search Tool
https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/search-trees-and-plants/
General intro and short descriptions of common native plants.

More in-depth info
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/
Goes into detail about habits, descriptions, pictures, and growing preferences.

Bird Enthusiast
National Audubon Society Native Plant Finder
https://www.audubon.org/native-plants
Able to search what plants species will attract what bird species.

Pollinators
NWF Plant Finder
https://nativeplantfinder.nwf.org
Able to search what plants will attract which pollinators.

Cool Chicago Geographical & Geological History
Chicago Wilderness: An Atlas on Biodiversity
https://www.csu.edu/cerc/researchreports/documents/ChicagoWildernessAtlasOfBiodiversity1999.pdf
Free publicly available PDF of the now vintage book. I use a lot of these maps in my presentations!

01/29/2026

This is the official page for the country wide movement Pollinator Pathway!

Pollinator Pathway is a 501c3 non-profit organization that started as a grass roots movement in 2017 in just one county in Wilton, Connecticut. We now have people in over 350 towns/cities that have signed on to create pollinator habitat in their home landscape.

At Braided Roots we see a huge gap in the North and Northwest suburbs of Chicago. People want to move and live in places where this habitat is already created, but we believe it’s time that we all come together and build this from the ground up. So we at Braided Roots have partnered with Pollinator Pathway and are helping to lead this movement to make real change in our communities.

We hope to connect homeowners, townships, governmental organizations, schools, and non profits to form a huge community all built around creating safe space for people to learn and our pollinators live.

To learn more, join the movement, and begin the process to have your landscape certified pollinator friendly visit:

pollinator-pathway.org

and find us, Braided Roots, at:

braidedrootslegacy.org

or our FB page:

Braided Roots