Wonders of Discovery

Mark Thursday, June 18^th on your calendar for the Wonders of Discovery community event at the Pollinator Prairie—located at 320 South Blake Street in Olathe’s “Original Town” neighborhood.  There’s plenty to learn and beautiful, unique gardens to appreciate.

Wonders of Discovery is an impressive event scheduled each year in June to coincide with National Pollinator Week. This will be the 12^th annual event with a focus on environmental education and outreach involving hundreds of participants including community members and summer camp youngsters. There will be exhibits and tabletop activities appealing to every age and no admission charge. Over 20 exhibits will feature topics such as live birds of prey, importance of pollinators, native plants, simple things you can do at home to support nature, soil conservation, and much more. The event runs from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

Some plants are self-pollinated such as oak trees and corn. Many others, including plants necessary for human nutrition, grow from seeds that require pollination of their parent flowers. Many insects and animals that visit flowers contribute to pollination, but the most important pollinators are bees.  Honeybees are widely appreciated as pollinators in agriculture, but they are not as good as native bees for pollination of many important native plants because native bees and plants evolved together over time. Native bees, including many species of bumblebees, carpenter bees, leaf cutters, and others, that nest in hollow plant stems and ground burrows, get the job done.

Bumblebees are considered one of the best pollinators but about a quarter of the 50 species occurring in North America are threatened to some degree. Research is underway to better understand and protect bumblebees. Citizen science programs, like songbird nest monitoring programs, allow folks to contribute pictures and observations of bumblebees. Social bumblebees are annual nesters most often in ground cavities started by a queen that does everything until workers are reared to take over foraging and other tasks including colony defense.  Worker bumblebees can sting, but people don’t often encounter bumblebee nests and nest populations don’t usually get very large.

Other native bee species are very docile featuring a solitary female that collects pollen to rear a small number of offspring. Many are very small. Some are very colorful and attractive.

A unique garden at the Pollinator Prairie features considerable bare ground with certain soil characteristics to promote burrowing of native bees. Bee biology and the intricacies of pollination are just a couple topics to explore at the Wonders of Discovery event. Similar fascinating stories can be told about butterflies, hummingbirds and other wildlife. Native plant gardens at the Pollinator Prairie are designed to showcase these.

The Pollinator Prairie was not always a place of serene beauty for public enjoyment. Forty years ago, the scene was unsightly stacks of barrels, boxes and other containers containing chemicals. These containers degraded and leaked over time, polluting the soil and groundwater. A visit to Pollinator Prairie would not be complete without taking a moment to view the entrance sign that explains the site’s history. Every bit as fascinating as the ecological wonders to be appreciated at Pollinator Prairie today is the wonder of civil interaction among government agencies, corporations, non-profit organizations, and diverse volunteers to create what we now see. The Pollinator Prairie’s transformation has been recognized as an outstanding model for environmental restoration. This beautiful site is worth celebrating. Join the fun at Wonders of Discovery on June 18^th at the Pollinator Prairie in Olathe.

Wonders of Discovery and the Pollinator Prairie are projects of K-State Extension’s Master Naturalist Program in Johnson County. Check out the Pollinator Prairie – Olathe KS page on Facebook and the K-State Extension Johnson County website to learn more.