Our next general meeting is on Tuesday February 21, 2023, at 7 pm on Zoom. NOTE—THIS IS ONE WEEK LATER THAN OUR NORMAL MEETING DAY DUE TO OUR SPEAKER HAVING A WORK CONFLICT. We decided to always have a Zoom meeting in February because the weather can be so iffy. It has been an issue in the past, pre-Zoom, when we must reschedule speakers due to the weather and they often are previously booked for other dates.  Heather Andrews, known professionally as “The Thoughtful Gardener” will be presenting a program called “Creating a Pollinator Oasis”.

Heather Andrews, from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania,  is a published author, photographer,  traveler and speaker who routinely works with homeowners and businesses to create sustainable native pollinator habitats. She grew up as one of 12 grandchildren in North Carolina, and often took walks on her Granddaddy Andrews acre garden, where she learned about pollinators and increasing yield. Her childhood chores included weed pulling in her Daddy’s rose garden, which she did not appreciate at the time.

During the growing season, you will find her in her monarch waystation, Cat-a-pillar Haven,  videoblogging on her new YouTube Channel, Garden Thoughtfully. She encourages gardeners to provide wildlife habitat, fuel for native pollinators, and improve vegetable yield via pollinator hedgerows/corridors.  She combines information from her career in clinical research to guide her messaging, and routinely creates actionable video content to enable gardeners to create a pollinator paradise in their own backyard. She often sends milkweed seeds and shares native plants with gardeners throughout North America to help create native butterfly habitat and support the endangered monarch butterfly.

She is a two-time recipient of the  “Garden of Distinction” award by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society for Her Monarch Waystation, Cat-a-Pillar Haven in 2020,  and for a pollinator Garden she designed for the Historic Craighead House in collaboration with the Penn State Master Gardeners of Cumberland. Her award-winning photographs and articles have been featured in magazines and on Medium. 

Most recently, she is collaborating with Gardening know how on a 5-part butterfly gardening course. Information can be found at https://learn.gardeningknowhow.com/courses/butterfly-garden

To follow her educational video logs, she can be found on her new educational gardening channel on YouTube, Garden Thoughtfully. Also, check out her Facebook page, The Thoughtful Gardener.

Her presentation is “Creating a Pollinator Oasis”.   Are you dreaming of next year’s garden? Would you like to create an environment that hosts pollinators and wildlife while creating less work for you? Join pollinator expert, Heather Andrews in this virtual discussion on how to create s sustainable pollinator paradise in your own backyard!