• Gardening Tips & Tricks

Attracting Pollinators with a Native Garden

Instructor: Richard Merrill

Location: Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

Date: October 30, 2022

Time: 3:00PM - 4:30PM

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Details:

Learn more about the process of pollination and the major pollinators; beneficial insects, bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, and moths from Richard Merrill, current Garden docent, and Cabrillo Community College faculty emeritus. Attendees will learn how the different colors, shapes, and sizes of flowers attract their specific pollinators. There will be a presentation of garden-worthy California native plants that are especially effective at attracting pollinators. We’ll finish with a discussion of the importance of home gardens in establishing local “islands of native biodiversity”. Guests will leave with the tools necessary to create or enhance their own native pollination gardens.

About Richard Merrill:

Richard Merrill is currently a volunteer at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. He received his Master’s degree in mathematics and population ecology from the University of California Los Angeles and studied Ecosystem dynamics at UCSB. Richard emeritus of Cabrillo Community College where he served as the first director of the Environmental Horticultural Department and developed the idea of the “Habitat Landscape.” He has written books on sustainable agriculture, renewable energy systems, and sustainable vegetable gardening.

Pricing and registration:

Garden Members: $15

General Public: $30

Students with a valid ID: $15

Rich Merrill and I share a great enthusiasm for plants. His talks are informative and entertaining and well worth attending.

– Lori Robinson, Garden Member and Docent

“Rich is an engaging speaker who loves to share his fascination about interactions between plants, insects and animals. This talk is filled with valuable information about how to create a garden that is teeming with life. I learned about why buckwheat is such a magnetic plant for insects, and why boulders are important for attracting lizards. You will not regret attending!”

– Dylan Schuyler

“I loved Rich’s lecture on ecology and the design of habitat landscapes. I am not a plant expert, but Rich is a very entertaining teacher who explains the complexity of his subject in a way that I can understand. I came away with a much deeper understanding of how plants, insects, and soil, among other things, work together to produce a vibrant ecosystem.”

– Charlie Adams

“Rich Merrill is a quintessential educator! His presentations are lively, engaging, content-rich, and practical.”

– Carolyn Pidduck, Garden volunteer

Rich Merrill’s presentations are enriching for all California native plant lovers. With his expertise, humor, and warmth he delivered a fresh slant on habitat gardens at his lecture on “Ecology and the Design of Habitat.” His slides are beautiful and the accompanying anecdotes colorful. We are lucky to have Rich among us at the Garden.

– Susan Spector