Rochester Pollinators

08/31/2026

Native Plant General Store- Sale is Open for Business!

Proprietors Marilyn Trent & Michelle Berry Lane will be there to help with any gardening questions.

114 E. 2nd Street, Downtown Rochester (Trent Creative office — doesn't face the street; look for the black awning and Native Plant Sale sign!)

This week's hours:
Aug 31: Noon–5pm
Sept 1: Noon–7pm
Sept 2: 11am–5pm
Sept 3: Noon–7pm
Sept 4: 11am–6pm

All plants discounted at $4 each | Shrubs $25–$30

We've got Bee Balm, Coneflower, Butterfly W**d, Joe Pye W**d, New England Aster, native grasses, shrubs, and more — plus FREE Milkweed & Eastern Redbud while supplies last!

The full list is here: https://rochesterpollinators.org/pages/nativeplantsales

Come support your local pollinators.

08/28/2026

Rochester Pollinators is at the Downtown Rochester Farmers Market this Saturday!

Saturday, August 29 | 8am–1pm

Stop by our tent for: A seed bomb make-and-take (fun for all ages!)
Native plants and shrubs for sale
A free milkweed plant for every visitor

Why plant natives in the fall? It's actually the best time! Cooler temps let the plant focus its energy on growing strong roots instead of leaves and flowers. Those established roots mean it comes back stronger next spring — emerging earlier and growing bigger than a plant put in the ground in spring.

See you at the market!

08/28/2026

Last call! Preorders for garden kits and native grasses close today at 5pm.

If you've been thinking about adding native plants to your yard, now's the time to order.

Grasses are the unsung heroes of the native plant world. They're one of the easiest swaps you can make — pull out a nonnative ornamental grass and drop in a native one in its place. Same look and texture gardeners love, but now it's actually feeding and sheltering wildlife instead of sitting there doing nothing for pollinators.

Garden kits take the guesswork out of native gardening. Each kit is a predesigned, no-frills collection of plants that work well together — pick a kit that fits your space and light conditions, and you've got an instant garden.

Use code Pollinator Picnic for 10% off your order. Pickup runs August 26 – September 7 at The Trent Creative Office in downtown Rochester.

Order by 5pm today at

Choose from a variety of Michigan Native Plant Garden Kits created by light, soil and moisture needs. They were carefully chosen for their height and bloom times for beauty and enjoyment throughout the growing season..

08/28/2026

I was honored to speak last evening at the Meadow Brook Garden Volunteer Appreciation Event about a topic close to my heart: Petals, Pollinators & Pocket Forests. The audience was warm and engaged, and the setting couldn't have been more beautiful. These dedicated volunteers plant, manage, and maintain 27 gardens at Meadow Brook Hall — a true labor of love. Now is the perfect time to stop by and see their work in bloom.

08/25/2026

The truck came in today for Michigan native plants!

08/22/2026

Tiny Homes Phase I: Getting Ready to Plant!

I spent a full day of Phase I prep for our newest Tiny Homes location in Detroit! Here's what we've been up to:

1. Leaf Mulch: Raking up leaf mulch to mix with compost — this gives our native plants and shrubs the boost they need to thrive. Huge thanks to Renee Perkins for sharing hers, since leaf mulch has been hard to come by this year!

2. Native Shrubs: Stopped by Wildtype Native Plant Nursery in Mason, MI, where Bill Schneider helped us track down six native shrubs. Bill let us know native shrubs are tough to source in Michigan right now, but availability is growing every year. We'll be back, Bill!

3. Native Plants: Picked up beautiful native plants at Bordine Nursery including Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) and Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum). Thank you, Bordine's, for having authentic native plants ready to go!

4. Compost: And last but not least — picked up compost with some cheerful help from Nemo, who had been skateboarding City of Rochester, Michigan - Government new skate park.

All of this was headed to our Tiny Homes site in Southeast Michigan. These 8 new tiny homes are the latest addition to a growing community of 27 already built, and native gardens will go in this fall, September 20, to create a beautiful, sustainable space for our new neighbors.

Thank you to everyone who's helping make this possible — one bag of mulch, one shrub, one plant at a time.

• More updates coming soon as the gardens take root!

• Tiny Homes are made possible by Cass Community Social Services

Our native plant sale that is going on from August 25 September 4 and swag sales help fund projects like these and more!

Tiny Homes Phase I: Sourcing Native Plants & Prepping the Soil Fo...

08/21/2026

The ONLINE sale is open until August 25. Go shop your favorite plants at Rochesterpollinators.org