Once upon a time, people came together to create something very special — for animals, the environment, and our community.
That “something” was a pollinator garden at Astoria, designed to support the bees, butterflies, birds, moths, hummingbirds, and other creatures that help plants grow, flowers bloom, and our food flourish. These little garden visitors play a huge role in keeping ecosystems healthy and diverse. And when we support them, we’re also improving soil health, helping fight climate change, and making our local landscapes more vibrant.
This spring, a group of enthusiastic kindergarten students from Jackson Elementary School (JES) joined in the fun, helping to create colorful signs and build small habitat structures called ‘bug snugs’ for our future winged guests. Their curiosity and creativity brought so much heart to the project.
After clearing out the old garden beds and laying down rich new soil and compost, it was time to bring in the stars of the show: the plants! With shovels in hand, volunteers of all ages came together to dig, plant, and pat in native pollinator-friendly plants. As they say, many hands make light work.
We’re deeply thankful to our partners — Agrostis, Inc., Teton Botanical Garden, Teton County Conservation District, Meg and Bert Raynes Wildlife Fund, Center for Native Plants, Porcupine Nursery, and MountainScapes — and, of course, our amazing volunteers. A special shout-out goes to Astoria’s Manager of Educational Programming, Bari Bucholz, for pouring so much energy into turning this vision into reality.
Next time you’re visiting the hot springs, take a moment to stroll by the pollinator garden and see how it’s coming to life. We hope it brings you as much joy and inspiration as it brings the bees. Take a peek at the fun in this video below and in an image gallery here!
This project is made possible thanks to grant funding from the Meg and Bert Raynes Wildlife Fund and Teton Conservation District.
