We are a birth to 5 preschool that focuses on project based learning, so these plants would be a great opportunity to inspire projects for our students. I am a 3-5 year old teacher at the school and personally plan to use the plants to continue our insect appreciation work, helping the kids to understand how the bugs around us are not only helpful, but also living beings that should be respected whether they directly give us a product or not. For the toddlers I believe they’re doing similar work, and the plants would be a great lead in to learning about butterfly life cycles. For the infants I believe the plants would be a great place to visit and get early exposure to wildlife areas.

Briarcliff Elementary School has a school garden that is located between several school buildings and so hundreds of children walk past the garden on a daily basis. The garden is open to teachers and classrooms, and we also have an after school garden club. We typically host two garden clubs per year – one club for Kindergarten-2nd grade and then another club for 3rd-5th graders. We would use these plants for our fall session of garden club and create a special butterfly garden – educating students (and teachers) about butterflies and their life cycle.

We’re planning to install a monarch conservation station/pollinator garden. If we’re able to get butterfly weed to thrive, then it will be a monarch conservation station; if not, it will be a pollinator garden. We’re inviting classrooms and families to propagate plants and create signs that say what the plant is, what classroom or family propagated them, and how the plant benefits wildlife (host, nectar, seeds, etc.) We’re inviting classes to paint stepping stones so students can get a close look at the plants without stepping on them (fingers crossed). The garden will be located right up against the fence on Foster St. where there’s lots of foot traffic and we’re inviting classes to make signage. Some have already made signs about leaving the leaves and keeping cats inside. The school also has a pond where we hope to have swamp milkweed in pots.

Durham Academy signed/approved a Sustainability Commitment in fall of 2023 aiming to decrease our waste and carbon emissions and to increase education about sustainability and biodiversity on our campuses. Since planting a small Pocket Prairie in our inaugural Biodiversity class (spring semester 2024), we are expanding to other parts of campus – planting natives with lower schoolers who are learning about the benefits of native plants and pollinators, and creating an “outdoor classroom” learning space with native plantings.

The Durham County MGV program is in the process of developing a pollinator garden on the grounds of the UCAN property for the purpose of providing host plants for Lepidoptera, nectar and pollen for pollinators, habitat for all insects, beautification of the landscape, and contributing to ecosystem functions of the property. The pollinator population and beneficial insects that are supported by the garden will be beneficial to the community vegetable gardens cared for by community members. The MGVs are currently designing signage to provide the public with education about native plants and individual, permanent labels for each plant.

I am going to be using the plants in a pollinator garden for my Girl Scout Gold Award Project to raise awareness of native pollinators.

Guilford County Extension Master Gardeners have over the past 2 decades created and cared for an acre garden which includes approximately 11 unique spaces. A pollinator garden, a bird garden, a pond area, native garden and vegetable garden to name a few. Our goal is to demonstrate to visitors, the public at our garden events and to educate our new master gardener students. You organization is providing a generous service and our garden care team would be delighted to receive this gift. We invite you to visit our demonstration garden anytime.

We would like to use these plants in our school’s Learning Garden. We have been wanting to build out our “Pollinator Garden” where the students can visit and learn about pollinators and other insects, and how they contribute to our environment.

We are a non-profit children’s museum located in Chapel Hill. We have a small pollinator garden at our location at University Place Mall where we have weekly children’s programs, monthly garden parties, and other special events. This garden could use some new plants to replace ones that have died or replace a few non-native ones that were planted before I took over management of the garden. The museum has also acquired a new large property nearby where we would like to build a future museum and host programs in the meantime. We’ve started a small pollinator garden there but it is very sparse and could really use a lot more plants to fill it in and make it more educational. Thank you!

The Lake Royale Community Garden creates a space where neighbors connect with one another in a hands-on, peaceful, and respectful environment around the activity of growing produce. While tending to vegetables, fruits, and other plants that will be shared with the gardeners and the community, the Lake Royale Community Garden group educates residents about gardening and the nutritional value of fresh produce while strengthening bonds among community members through inclusive community activities.

Find out more information on our website here: www.lakeroyalecommunitygarden.com

The plants will be used in our pollinator garden, which is located on the fence perimeter. We encourage native pollinators for the health of our garden and ecosystem as well as public education to both members and non-members.

We are in our third year of a pollinator garden planted in front of the Liberty Public Library. The plants are primarily native to the Southeast, perennial, sun-loving, and low water requirements. We have been working to try and have a variety of blooming plants that bloom at different times of the year to benefit insects, particularly bees, throughout the year. We have started to collect seeds from some of our plants and will be distributing them through our Seed Library inside of the library. The garden compliments programming we have with the EcoExplore program through the Greensboro Science Center, food and gardening programming through the NC Cooperative Extension, and some of our own programming with kids like storytime and our annual growing of butterflies in the library to educate and raise awareness of insect pollinators.

We are a Title I elementary school and our PTA has undertaken a new learning garden this spring. We are slowly adding native plants to our flower beds in hopes of changing the pollinator “landscape” of our grounds a bit at a time. We have classrooms that are participating in the learning garden and will be able to use these native plants to help students study bees and butterflies and learn about pollination. An added bonus is making our campus gorgeous!

This preserve is a part of Wake County’s Open Space Program, and we have begun planting many native pollinator beds in our other two preserves, Sandy Pines is the next on our list. We plan to use the help of volunteers to plant and manage the beds and also use them for classes on native plants and native insects

Founded in 1994, SEEDS is a two-acre urban garden and kitchen classroom in the heart of Durham. SEEDS develops the capacity of young people to respect life, the earth, and each other through growing, cooking, and sharing food. Developing the capacity of young people includes responsibility, teamwork, leadership, environmental stewardship, equity, community, problem solving and experiential learning.

We will use the plants to increase species diversity in our Healing Garden. This area focuses on native plants, keystone species for pollinators, and medicinals. We use this space to demonstrate the beauty of native plants and importance of habitat building when one gardens while highlighting our native bees, wasp, butterflies, and other wildlife who use them.

We offer learning opportunities and green space to the greater Durham community and strive to steward the land well and teach this to others. The donation of native plants would help us to serve this mission.

Thank you for considering our organization.

The Stough Elementary Wildlife and Garden Club is finishing its second year as the school year comes to an end. The school was reconstructed four years ago leaving many parts of the school ground without plants. Last year, the Garden Club was started as a partnership between the teachers and PTA. Students have been involved in replanting areas adjacent to the school and carpool loop with plants to aid pollinators and beautify the school grounds. The garden areas are also used as learning tools by teachers. Neighbors use the carpool loop to walk dogs and enjoy a stroll.

We currently have a beautiful pollinator garden, however, our school is being torn down and we are not allowed to move to the new location for a few months. So, we are donating all of our pollinator garden to another school. We would really appreciate the opportunity to plant a pollinator garden at the flex space to continue our education but also beautify the empty space.

The Hawbridge School is a place-based charter school, specializing in outdoor education. My name is Susan Anderson. I am entering my second year as the Horticulture teacher here at Hawbridge. The wonderful faculty and staff here have laid the foundation of native plant gardens, promoting pollinator awareness, and educating students about native plants. The Backyard Butterflies Plant Donation Program would help me promote and reiterate the keystone species, nectar species, and host species that you are offering, no matter what you’re able to donate to our program. We have a brand new Terrace Garden that needs lots of plants to enhance the area. We have two outdoor classroom areas that have paths leading to them. Any plants donated would enhance these areas. We have two riparian areas that need more plants. We are also closely associated with the town of Saxapahaw so lots of citizens walk the paths and use the trails. The plants would help educate others, not just students, about natives, nectar and host species. I wanted to let you know that a wonderful parent let me know about your program, Michelle Fronk. She will be assisting with planting. A special shout out to her for bringing this opportunity to my attention.

The Environmental Committee within the HOA for The Legacy at Jordan Lake, is seeking to become a certified wildlife habitat area. We hope to provide education to our neighborhood about the value of native plants, insects and animals. We are striving to support as many native plants and wildlife as possible, while providing the public common space with an area that can be walked through and enjoyed for mindfulness and the mental health benefits that nature brings. We intend to have specific education about the plants in the pollinator garden so that we can inspire an appreciation of the native wildlife. This will be a garden area that will have paths to walk through and benches throughout. We have installed multiple bird houses in the area and also hope to install bat boxes, butterfly houses and bug homes, additionally. We would very much appreciate being considered for the plant program.

We are a year-round elementary school with about 700 students in prek-fifth grade. I’m am the STEM teacher at our school and teach all students on a regular rotation. I plan to focus on gardening with third grade throughout the year. They have learning goals about understanding pollinators, native plants, plant care, and parts of plants. I just started our native garden and would love to be able to add to it.

Watts Street Baptist Church, a progressive congregation located in a leafy residential section of the city (2 blocks from Duke University East Campus), requests plants to be used in its pollinator garden. There is an elementary school across the street, and a synagogue with a pre-school in the next block. The sidewalk in front of the church is a busy pedestrian throughway for the neighborhood, connecting the schools and the University. The pollinator garden was planted in 2023 on a small parcel that is right up against the sidewalk and has a blacktop parking lot behind it. Even in its first season, the garden attracted butterflies in a very visible spot. There is a small sign indicating that it is a pollinator garden.

We would love to beautify our neighborhood as well as educate our neighbors on these native plants! We are excited and hoping we get this opportunity!
Thank you for your consideration and doing this!

We are a Kindergarten-8th grade private Christian school in the foothills of North Carolina. A Boy Scout troop recently revamped our existing greenhouse, added four raised beds, and laid gravel pathways throughout the garden area. The garden has a water pump and hose, full sun, and it is enclosed with a fence. It will be available for all students to come with their homeroom class, science teacher, or with me. I am the school’s part-time technology teacher. I have a Monarch Waystation in my own yard, and I would like to volunteer my time to take students out to the garden and greenhouse to teach them about butterflies and native habitats. Our raised beds are filled with dirt, and our empty greenhouse is ready for plants. We would love your help getting started planting our new garden!

We are a group of Kindergarten teachers teaching at a Title 1 school in a rural area. Each year we do a big project on insects. Being able to plant a pollinator garden would tie in so perfectly with our bee hotels we created last year as a part of this project. We already have empty raised beds from years ago that were abandoned by teachers that left the school pre covid. Students will be involved in learning about the plants, how they benefit pollinators, and will assist in planting them.

We are a museum on the Outer Banks that focuses on Native people across the country. Our Nature Trail, however, puts focus on the indigenous people that once populated the island. With so many invasive plants being brought in for tourist home decoration, we are working on bringing native plants that used to be prevalent. We are also working on a trail book that will be including plants that were known to be utilized by the indigenous people of the island. In the future, we will be creating a similar trail book to bring attention to native pollinators that need our appreciation and awareness like wasps and beetles as well as our native bees. With the donated plants we’re hoping to receive, they will be placed along the trail out of direct reach. There is also a possibility for them to be placed in a planter box in front of the museum to help protect some from storm surge.

Junior Girl Scouts to complete Bronze Award project at their school creating a garden for educational resource for the students (science).

Graystone Landing is located on Graystone Place in Beaufort, NC 28516. The HOA agency we use is located in Morehead City.
Each street in our neighborhood is a cul de sac which has a 6×6 circular garden bed for plants. Currently there are no native plants in these garden beds. I would like to plants native natives in one of these beds located on my street.
People walk by this cul de sac often during daily walks in the neighborhood. My hope is that this garden can raise awareness of the beauty and importance of native plants.
I will share information about native plants and pollinators on the HOA resident website.

At Holly Grove Elementary School Garden, our primary goals are threefold: fostering environmental literacy among K-5th grade students, growing fresh produce for the Holly Springs Food Cupboard, and actively participating in the protection of pollinator populations. These initiatives are at the core of our educational and community-oriented mission.

Environmental Literacy: Our garden serves as an outdoor classroom where students have the opportunity to engage in hands-on learning about plant life cycles, ecosystems, and the importance of biodiversity. Through various educational activities, we aim to instill a deep understanding and appreciation for the environment in our young learners.

Hunger Relief: A significant portion of our garden’s harvest is dedicated to supporting the Holly Springs Food Cupboard. By growing and donating fresh, locally sourced produce, we contribute to addressing food insecurity in our community and promote healthy eating habits.

Pollinator Conservation: As a registered Monarch Waystation, we actively work towards creating a supportive habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators. Our garden is designed to provide nectar-rich flowers and host plants necessary for the complete life cycle of these essential pollinators.

We are incredibly grateful to you for considering us for your donation of plants, which will play a crucial role in sustaining and enhancing our garden’s impact. Your support enables us to continue our mission of educating the next generation, addressing community needs, and actively contributing to the preservation of pollinator populations.

Lowes Grove M.S. has a pollinator garden, adjacent to the community garden. It has recently been extended, using native seed mixes over 1600 sqft, and we wish to add more native plant diversity to it, in order to support a wider range of pollinators; butterflies, moths and bees. The students will plant these plants and monitor the site for visiting wildlife.

Lyons Farm E.S is a new school in South Durham. It has an area designated as a pollinator meadow, which is in it’s infancy. We would like to have the students add more plants to increase diversity for butterflies, moths and bees, while making their campus more beautiful as this site is at the front of the school.

We have converted one of our entrances from mostly grass and shrubs to a drought resistant mostly native garden. Due to budget constraints we could only fund some of the intended plants. We would like to add more native perennials. At least half of the neighborhood uses this entrance daily. Showcasing natives would help educate and encourage their use in their own yards.

The PTA supports the school garden by providing education and a safe space for kids to observe nature. The plants will be located around the inside perimeter of the school garden, in the areas designated to the pollinator garden.

We have newly formed a Beautification and Landscaping committee with a focus on removing invasive plants, planting native species, reducing erosion, and more in our neighborhood. We will use the donated plants to convert an open area where we have removed English ivy into a pollinator haven that all our neighbors can enjoy.

Poe Magnet Elementary School is a public school located in downtown Raleigh, NC. With less than 300 students, almost 60% of whom are identified as qualifying for free and reduced price lunch, Poe is a small school that cultivates the interests and passions of its diverse student population to prepare them for the challenges of the future. Poe staff and parents alike recognize that climate change is one of these challenges. Together we are looking to grow environmentally conscious students who can impart their own knowledge to their families and friends. As one step towards this goal, the PTA, working with staff and students, started a native pollinator garden in the spring of 2023. We are planning to expand the native species in the garden and would love to be considered for donated plants.

Raven Rock State Park recently added a public pollinator garden. This was a project that took years to finish because of Covid and staffing shortages. I am the coordinator and project lead for the park. We are still growing our garden and it is registered with the butterfly Highway with NC. We had a few local organizations donate some seeds and plants but native plants are hard to find. A lot of the plants I purchased out of my pocket. We would greatly appreciate some more donated plants to aid in expanding the variety of native plants so we can host more pollinators. The donated plants will be added to our newly opened garden to help build a more natural environment for pollinators.

We are a Charter School in Hillsborough. I am a 6th grade science teacher and in Q4 we are studying local ecosystems, and part of that is companion gardening, pollinators and native vs invasive plants.

We started a native plant pollinator garden last year. These plants would be an addition and would help with general maintenance of this garden. The children of our church are often taught lessons using the garden.

Wendy Olson Arboretum is a demonstration garden in a residential neighborhood dedicated to promoting native plants, habitat restoration, education, beautification and enjoyment for all.

Grandmother that has elementary and middle school aged grandchildren whom I care for for multiple days a week . I live in an area with low pollinators and have been working to bring pollinators back to our area through planting native plants. I also have been teaching gardening and food preservation.

Troop 236 has planted a pollinator garden at and with the permission of New Horizon Church. We currently have prairie sundrops, yarrow, rudbeckia, hoary mountain mint, bee balm, showy goldenrod, asters that are purple- not sure what kind, wild (volunteer) white asters, obedient plant, native columbine, and spiderwort. We did see a monarch fly by at our last meeting and the girls REALLY want to single-handedly save them so we’re happy to work with Lior to find some way to plant milkweed.

Montessori School of Durham is committed to the joy of learning and seeks to educate the “whole child,” addressing each aspect of development. With the help of the MSD community, the school has been working to create a bird and pollinator friendly campus by using native plant species. Creating a natural environment on campus provides students with an opportunity to learn about native plant species and the insects and birds that they support. By participating in campus beautification, the MSD community becomes invested in their campus environment and are provided with a peaceful and beautiful place for outdoor learning and gathering. Additionally, the school hosts bees with Budda Bee Apiary and has been working with New Hope Audubon Society to develop a certified bird friendly habitat on campus. Planting native species will help support and maintain both of these efforts. Thank you for the consideration.

We are a title one elementary school in East Durham. We are in the process of starting our very first raised bed vegetable garden for the purpose of educating our kids about botany/biology as well as healthier eating. The presence of pollinator plants would be beneficial to the vegetable garden, and would also provide our students with opportunities to observe caterpillars/butterflies/bees. There will not be paths around these areas, per se, but students and teachers will be able to approach/work in the gardens. There won’t be pets. We also have huge, sunny areas of land and hope to be able to expand the pollinator garden idea to additional areas in the future to add beauty and functionality to our school space.

DWC is a civic group. The Environment is one of our 5 key areas for volunteerism. We are redoing a pollinator garden at Parkwood Elementary School, a low performing school in south Durham. This week we pulled out all of the weeds and plants that had grown up in it. As far we could see, it is now an empty slate. The classes at the school will be able to use the garden to teach the kids about pollinators.

Girl Scout troop establishing pollinator garden in public park in Apex. The garden’s purpose is to both support the pollinator insects but also educate the community on native plants and insects.

I’m a parent volunteer with the school’s PTA. Last year we converted several empty dirt beds on the school’s ground to gardens with the hopes of attracting pollinators. We were largely successful and attracted black swallowtails and monarchs (we had caterpillars) as well as frogs and hummingbirds. We used a combination of some native and nonnative annuals and perennials as well as some leafy greens and herbs. This year I’m hoping to devote one of the larger beds to mostly native plants to attract more butterflies (hopefully milkweed and monarchs). The bed is adjacent to the school playground so there’s plenty of opportunity for student engagement – both structured and spontaneous.

A local eagle scout installed a small pollinator garden at the Iron Ore Belt Access of our park during May-June 2022 and we would like to expand it further along the embankment where it’s planted. The spot is designated as a Monarch Waystation and due to its location between a parking lot and mowed grass field, we could use more nectar sources for pollinators in the immediate area. I’m not particular at all about which plants are donated, they just need to be native and able to thrive in full sun and subsist on natural precipitation cycles since they are located far from a water source.

Hi there! I just filled out the form to request a class or workshop for the PTO at our school! I am the sustainability chair for the PTO at Marvin B. Smith Elementary School in Burlington, NC. This spring, we are converting a vegetable garden at the school into a pollinator garden. We are hoping to teach the students about how plants provide important food and cover for wildlife and pollinators! We are looking for businesses to donate native perennials for the garden — especially those that will bloom in the spring and early summer or in the fall, so the children can see them blooming! We are flexible about what plants, and are open to your suggestions. We will highlight your organization to all our families on our social media and email newsletters. Please contact me with any questions, and thank you for considering!

MCES already has an established garden that needs attention and support from teachers, staff, students, and parents. We want to give the community and especially all the MCES students an opportunity to engage with nature while learning practical lessons. School gardens are an effective way to promote life-long healthy eating habits and connect students to the natural world. Gardening provides educators with opportunities to enhance student education through practical, reality-based learning. With the Plants donated we will be able to restore the Monarch Waystation, replace non-native flowers and increase the space already established. Students will be able to observe the pollinators that will visit and enjoy the food source from the flowers. Please visit Middle Creek Elementary School Garden facebook page to see some pictures of the garden in past years.

South Mountains State Park is located in the rural southern end of Burke County, NC. We have one small native plant garden in front of our visitor center with educational markers illustrating the plant species and the butterfly species it supports. We would like to expand this to another location around our visitor center. The area planned will be approximately 20′ x 7′ and between the sidewalk and building. This would eliminate one difficult to mow area and provide the best viewing by visitors.

The Episcopal Church of the Advocate is a small active church on the outskirts of Chapel Hill with 15 acres, a pond, and a serious commitment to land restoration and social justice. Increasingly, every year, huge swaths of adjacent land are being razed to build multi-story living developments. Before the pandemic, we started a “Piedmont Patch” along the circular path that crosses the small pond dam and circles the lake. Without upkeep and oversight during the time of zoom only services, we lost many of our original plants due to competition from invasives and deteriorating signage that set boundaries for weed eating. While we still have a few plants, we are in dire need of plants to rebuild our Piedmont Patch. We have the oversight now to be sure that the new plants would be protected. Personally, I have a few pollinator plants from my yard to donate but I would love to see more diversity to cover the various seasons that insects are active. We were hit hard by the pandemic in terms of losing members and we are challenged right now to have ample financial resources to fully support our current programs in 2023. So we would welcome any donated plants that you may be able to share with us. I am an Orange County Master Gardener and church member, and I am a great admirer of your program. Thank you for your consideration,

Youngsville Academy is a newer charter school. The school is currently K-9 and adding a grade each year. We just installed a green house this year for the garden club and look forward to planting a pollinator garden next to it in the spring. The building is new construction so a lot of the habitat has been destroyed around it. We want to teach the surveys the life cycle of pollinators and help them understand how these plants and pollinators effect our environment.