Restore Our Roots - Downingtown, PA

Do you love a good yard sale? Stop by our FUNdraiser and support our efforts to create wildlife-friendly habitat in Downingtown. This Saturday 9am-2pm. See you there!

For anyone who’s curious, the cutting of this Joe Pye w**d (Eutrochium fistulosum) is still going strong after 4 days. It's also pictured here in a garden setting, hanging out with some false sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides). Joe Pye (not a w**d!) is a keystone species in PA, serving as the host plant for 35 lepidoptera. It likes to hang out by railroad tracks, disturbed sites, and pastures, but we think it’s pretty stunning in the garden. Anyone have it your own home habitat?

Here's a plant that's almost as busy as mountain mint. Tall thistle (Cirsium altissimum) is tall - reaching up to 10'. It blooms late summer/early fall in full sun to part shade. Mr. Goldfinch visits this one daily to eat the seeds.

Come see us tomorrow evening 8/22 from 6-7pm on the rooftop at East Branch Brewing Company where you can learn about other super cool native plants, and how to certify your home habitat with the National Wildlife Federation. Let us know you're coming. Register at https://restoreourroots.org/events/

We have a jam-packed newsletter for you this month, all about gardening for wildlife, and LOTS of upcoming events. Enjoy!

🌻🐝 Providing Food for Wildlife...Gardening Tips Rooftop Event...NWF...And More From oak trees, to bird feeders, there are lots of options for creating food sources to help our wildlife friends. According to the National Wildlife Federation, one of the primary threats to wildlife is loss of habitat, but we can help.

Join us for an hour of NATIVE PLANT FUN, Aug 22 from 6-7pm. Learn how your garden can help wildlife, and learn how to certify your home habitat with the National Wildlife Federation.

Register at https://restoreourroots.org/events/

What an amazing, fun, engaged group of people we got to meet at our garden tour over the weekend. Thank you!!! We’re so grateful for your support, your questions, and for allowing us to share a thing or two about native gardening with you. Anyone have an “Aha!” moment? Share it with us here!

Mountain mint for the win! This plant is just a-buzz with activity, covered in pollinators of every shape and size. The species here is Pyncanthemum muticum, also known as clustered mountain mint or short-toothed mountain mint, and it grows 3-4 feet tall in full sun. A fun addition to your home landscape. Anyone have it in your garden already? Show us your pics!

So true! As ROR and partners put energy into awareness of the need for more wildlife habitat in the Borough through the National Wildlife Federation Community Habitat Certification, there needs to be a change in mindset for some of us humans. It's not always easy, but small shifts can make a difference, so all of us can exist in harmony. Stay tuned for upcoming events to learn more!

Are you seeing butterflies in town but not sure what they are? Check out this free guide to get started! Let us know what you are finding!
https://www.anspblog.org/late-spring-butterfly-guide/?_ga=2.168212963.375606016.1720530350-998039832.1720530350

We have lots to share with you this month, from invasive mud snails to a fun upcoming garden tour in Downingtown Borough. Check out our latest newsletter!

🐌 Invasive Mud Snails...Garden Tour...NWF...And More The New Zealand mud snail (NZM), Potamopyrgus antipodarum, is an aquatic invasive species that has now been found in different parts of the Brandywine Creek watershed. Check out this recent article to learn more. This is not our first aquatic invasive, but it sure can cause some havoc to the ecosyst...

A little red, white, and blue.

We’ve been busy! The newly transplanted trees at Beaver Creek Elementary have needed some TLC in this tough summer heat. The Downingtown Shade Tree Commission and Restore Our Roots have been working with the Downingtown School District and Beaver Creek Elementary to give those trees a much needed drink. We installed tree bags that provide slow and steady water, letting those roots enjoy a nice long soak.

Check out this sweet 'Bee Bar' to help bees hydrate! Super simple and if you change out the water every 3 days you won't have to worry about mosquitos.

Send a message to learn more

Living Mulch? Check out this article from our friends in Lancaster Co. to learn more!

"Instead of using chipped wood or rocks between plants, green mulch creates beautiful ecological gardens, keeps w**ds away and is less work."

Elyse Jurgen-Waxwing EcoWorks Co.

We are delighted that 'Living Mulch' is being highlighted by our local paper. Thank you LNP Media Group!

We are thoroughly impressed by the attentive effort that LNP reporter, Erin Negley, took to compose this article. She went to the extent of participating in Elyse's 3-hour layered landscape design class, as part of the Habitat Advocates certificate series, in collaboration with the Lancaster Conservancy.

Articles like this help to normalize native plants in our landscapes, inviting more landowners to make more room for rebuilding biodiversity. We are enjoying hearing the stories of how folks were inspired after reading this article!

Thank you to Claudia West and Thomas Rainier of Phyto Studio for publishing 'Planting in a Post Wild World' to inspire the creation of this concept and class.

Shout out to our ecological gardening friends and customers- Cassandra, Corby, and Lisa- for your lovely ecological gardens making the paper 🙌🏼🌿🦉🦋.

Online version: https://lancasteronline.com/features/home_garden/heres-how-to-use-green-mulch-as-a-ground-cover-in-your-garden-plus-top/article_dc5d7698-28f7-11ef-8b0b-9ff190e6d7cb.html

It's - Share your favorite pics with us!

Please share our upcoming July FUNdraising event to plant for pollinators in the Borough! Sip on botanical mocktails while we gently stroll into some beautiful yards with great ideas for wildlife-friendly landscaping! Yay, what more could you want on a summer day? July 20th (4-6pm). Limited to 24 registrants and you receive a sipping glass with the ROR logo! To register, visit: https://restoreourroots.org/.../summer-sips-strolls-with...

Summer Sips & Strolls with Plants! - Restore Our Roots Come join Downingtown’s local native plant group Restore Our Roots in partnership with the local Shade Tree Commission in this fundraiser to learn about the home landscape and being pollinator-friendly. Stroll with us through a Downingtown neighborhood where we’ll highlight majestic street trees...

Caterpillars are "fat little sausages for birds." Learn more in our June newsletter. We also have some cool upcoming events for you. Enjoy!

🌳What We Learned From Dr. Tallamy + FUN Upcoming Events Dr. Doug Tallamy is an entomologist from the University of Delaware and he’s also the co-founder of Homegrown National Park (HGNP) which is a national grass roots movement urging folks like us to create habitat in our yards. He recently spoke at Penn State Great Valley about biodiversity, caterpil...

Join us to learn about the Power of Pollinators and your own home landscaping. We'll be touring a local Downingtown neighborhood and sipping on fun plant-based mocktails along the way. Space is limited! Learn more & register at:
https://restoreourroots.org/event/summer-sips-strolls-with-plants/

What a fun event we have planned for you! Kayak with us and learn about the importance of the Brandywine Creek to our ecosystem, as well as to local residents and businesses. Space is limited, so be sure to register early!

Details and register at:
https://restoreourroots.org/event/paddle-on-the-brandywine/

Some of us in Dtwn have started seeing the fireflies! Yay!

Consider making your yard more hospitable to all insects by planting native plants, minimizing light pollution, reducing herbicide use and allowing plants, grasses and other vegetation to grow for longer periods of time.

Fireflies shed light on the benefits of a natural yard As a sign of summer, fireflies light up the Chesapeake watershed