HARRISBURG PA – They’re not gardens you can easily stop to admire, primarily because they exist along the roadsides of some of Pennsylvania’s busiest highways. The state Department of Transportation and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are nonetheless making concerted efforts, they said Thursday (June 22, 2023), to update “pollinator plantings” across the commonwealth.
The agencies and several others agreed in 2019 to “create naturalized gardens and meadows planted with pollinator-friendly plant species” at designated sites. Called pollinator habitats, they provide an array of colors to be glimpsed and fragrances to be inhaled by passing drivers.
More importantly, though, their native plants, promote, protect, and preserve pollinating creatures like bees, butterflies, beetles, and other insects. Their ability to carry pollen from one plant to another help decorative plants and food crops grow and thrive.
PennDOT said it has overseen more than 40 acres of pilot pollinator plantings, “with an additional 25 acres of habitat in progress.” The Turnpike has piloted five pollinator habitats across the state, containing 19 different plots for a total of more than 10 acres.
What’s being planted?
PennDOT reported it also update its seed mixture earlier this year. It removed notable non-native and invasive plants, and added pollinator-friendly plants such as black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta), ox-eye sunflowers (Heliopsis helianthoides) and common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca).
The Turnpike relies in part on the PennDOT mix, but also adds its own seed choices. Its mix includes native wildflowers like lanceleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), mint plants like anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), herbaceous perennials like milkweed species (Asclepias sp.) and wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), as well as the flowering plant foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis).
All areas targeted for pollinator-specific plantings are continually monitored by maintenance teams for the presence of invasive species and weeds. They also check for healthy growth and pollinator activity.
Pennsylvania has plenty of company in making pollinator plot progress. “Highway rights-of-way have been recognized nationally as lands that have potential to provide habitats for pollinators and support corridor connectivity for pollinators,” PennDOT noted.
The state legislature established the Pollinator Habitat Program Fund to help pay for the planting program. Its revenues come, in part, from vehicle owner purchases of a new pollinator license plate introduced earlier this year by PennDOT. Sixty-five percent of proceeds from the license plate sales are deposited into the fund.
Wildflower meadow photo by Leslie Bowman on Unsplash, used under license
Pollinator license plate photo for Travels With The Post provided by PennDOT
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