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Join garden writer, photographer, and eco-friendly designer Karen Bussolini to learn how to design wildlife-friendly pollinator habitats disguised as beautiful gardensThere is a growing awareness that pollinators are important, and that they’re in trouble. We know that pollinators need flowers and that they are responsible for much of the food we eat, but we’re maybe a little vague on the details. Pollinators, particularly insect pollinators, do need flowers – lots of flowers, and the right kinds of flowers – so diversity and quantity are big factors. But let’s back up a bit. Why are there flowers in the first place? And for that matter, why are there fruits and berries? Surely they didn’t evolve just for human pleasure and sustenance. There’s more to it, and it’s a fascinating story of interrelationships.
Some pollinators are better at the job than others, just as some flowers are more valuable food sources. Bees and other insects are key – they give a snapshot of the health of the entire ecosystem. Like all living things, they need good habitat – nesting places, resting places, hibernation sites, mating opportunities, food and water, in a non-toxic environment.
This is not a bee i.d. presentation, its about best plants and practices. Gardeners are uniquely able to support the entire life cycle of beneficial insects and other pollinators. Good plant choices and land care, coupled with simple awareness of the living world buzzing all around us make all the difference. After all, we’re not just cultivating flowers, we’re cultivating habitat.
Karen Bussolini has been a gardener all her life. She trained as a painter and was an architectural photographer before specializing in garden photography, writing, speaking and eco-friendly garden coaching/design. She is a NOFA (Northeast Organic Farmers Association) Accredited Organic Land Care Professional. Her garden has been featured in many publications, including Anne Raver’s feature, “A Hillside of Feisty Beauties” in The New York Times.
Her GARDEN PHOTOGRAPHY has been published in Garden Design, Horticulture, House Beautiful, House and Garden, This Old House, Traditional Home, Better Homes and Gardens, The American Gardener, Perennials, Native Plants, Organic Gardening, Wildflower, Country Living Gardener, McCall’s, Home, Metropolitan Home, Yankee, The New York Times, Design New England and numerous other magazines throughout the world, for which she has won several Garden Writers Association awards. Work commissioned by landscape designers has been published in many books and magazines and played a role in those clients’ success in winning local, regional and national design competitions.
She was sole photographer for six GARDEN BOOKS: The Naturescaping Workbook: How to Create a Garden with Nature as Your Guide, by Beth Young, (Timber Press 2011), The Homeowner’s Complete Tree and Shrub Manual by Penelope O’Sullivan (Storey Publishing 2007), Elegant Silvers: Striking Plants for Every Garden (Timber Press 2005), which she co-authored with Jo Ann Gardner, The Unsung Season: Gardens and Gardeners in Winter (Houghton Mifflin, 1995), A Country Garden for Your Backyard (Rodale Press 1993) and Backyard Design: Making the Most of the Space Around Your House (Bulfinch Press, 1991, 1998).