Volunteers work on Talent's pollinator garden

Talent, Ore. — Volunteers in talent took advantage of Wednesday’s sunshine to work on a pollen garden. The project is spearheaded by the Talent Garden Club and Bee City USA.

The city approved the project last year, and the city is providing the soil. Everything else, is being provided by donations and the Talent Garden Club. The garden is being worked on solely from volunteers.

The club said because Talent is the second official Bee City, the garden will be a crucial resource to the area.

“If we lose our pollinators and that includes so many of our native ones – 400 in Oregon, alone – we lose a lot of food source,” said Gerlinde Smith, treasurer for the Talent Garden Club.

If weather permits, volunteers expect to have the garden completed by the end of March, including a bug house, cleverly named ‘Buggington Palace.’ While the garden is expected to fully bloom until October, volunteers said they hope to add other plants to make it a year-round garden.