Free Pollinator Pathway presentation and SO MUCH MORE

🌻Free Pollinator Pathway Presentation Wednesday & SO MUCH MORE!🐝

Earth Day is on April 22th, but

FSP is celebrating all month long!

Join us this Wednesday evening for a fun free virtual presentation with Brandon Hoak, Native Plant Specialist and Outreach Communicator for the Tompkins Pollinator Pathway!


This virtual Pollinator Pathway presentation is Wednesday, April 17 at 7pm. Register below to get a zoom link for the presentation.

Brandon will introduce the Tompkins Pollinator Pathway Project which connects local gardens, parks, trails and landscapes to improve habitat corridors for pollinators in the county. He’ll talk about Stewart Park and Waterfront Trail gardens and how they contribute to the local pathway and also share tips on how to find the right native plants; create a successful pollinator garden; and join the local pathway map. Like and share the event on Facebook.


Brandon is the founder of Busy Bee Ecological Designs, which is dedicated to providing native gardening and sustainable landscape design to individuals. He is also the co-founder of Marshy Garden, a small-scale ecological restoration project connected with The Soil Factory, and a proud participant in the Tompkins Pollinator Pathway.


Can’t make the event? We’ll put the presentation on YouTube within a week. Registrants will be notified as soon as the link goes up.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

FSP has hosted three separate volunteer events in the last two weeks. Our annual waterfront cleanup was chilly but very well attended, with around 40 volunteers. Along with litter pickup, volunteers also helped trim back the invasive False Indigo Bush and cleaned up the sand play area on the playground.


Next up, the IHS Boys Lacrosse teams — Modified, JV and Varsity — tackled more of the False Indigo Bush along the water’s edge. This bush grows tall and fast, inhibiting lake views. It’s difficult to trim with machinery, so big groups of volunteers like this are vital to preserving beautiful lake views.


Finally, the Cornell Social Enterprise group brought around 30 volunteers to tackle more lakefront edge invasive shrub trimming. We are beyond grateful to all these volunteers for their hard work! THANK YOU!


If you would like join in the fun and are a fan of the Cass Park Trail loop, we will be working with the Ithaca Dragon Boat Club in Cass Park this Saturday! Meet us at the Dragon boat docks at 10 am and bring loppers, hand pruners and hedge trimmers.

The new playground bathroom is progressing quickly, and now old splash pad has been demolished! Thanks to Edger Enterprises, Inc. and their subcontractors for their incredible work.


The playground bathroom will feature three bathrooms: one male, one female, and one all gender/family with an adult changing table. The new splash pad will be more dynamic, with fun water features and push-button operation.

The project is still on schedule to be completed and opened by the end of June and the July 4th holiday weekend (Stewart Park’s 103rd anniversary).

FSP invites you to join Meena Haribal for a guided spring bird walk in Stewart Park!

Dress for the weather, bring your binoculars, and meet at the Cascadilla Boathouse at 8:30 am. Rain Date Sunday May 5. Click her for more Info. Like and share the event on Facebook.

Join FSP Saturday, May 4, from 10AM-noon for I Love My Park Day!

We'll prepare the park for summer by cleaning up garden beds, planting new landscaping, raking the playground, mulching, trimming lakeside vegetation and more. Dress for the weather and bring your gloves, rakes, clippers and other gardening tools.


Registration is not required, but it’s really appreciated, as it helps Parks & Trails NY track participation and get funding! More info and registration

Frank Muller, FSP Landscape Gardener and avid photographer/naturalist, will be leading our first BioBlitz event on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, Saturday, June 8.


To get started, you can download the iNaturalist App from the iPhone App Store or the Google Play Store on Android devices.


iNaturalist is an online social network of people sharing biodiveristy information to help each other learn about nature. The free iNaturalist App helps you identify the plants and animals around you while generating data for science and conservation. By recording and sharing your observations, you’ll create research-quality data for local scientists working to better understand and protect nature in your region.


A BioBlitz is a communal citizen-science effort to record as many species within a designated location and time-period. They are a way for naturalists, scientists, and curious members of the public to meet in person in the great outdoors and, are a lot of fun! There are several tutorials to get you started with iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org.


Stay tuned for more details!

Love the spring color along the waterfront? Support Daff-A-Dazzle by mailing a check to the Ithaca Garden Club, P.O. Box 4962, Ithaca, NY 14852 or make an online donation at www.ithacagardenclub.org/daff-a-dazzle.html.

In October 2020, the Ithaca Garden Club made an extraordinary gift to the City of Ithaca, with the planting of 12,000 narcissus bulbs and over 5,000 Grape Hyacinth and crocus bulbs. In 2022, the Garden Club celebrated their 100th year with a focus on continuing the mass planting of daffodils. Located along Taughannock Boulevard, just north of the Ithaca Children’s Garden, this daffodil planting creates a beautiful naturalizing splash of color for all to enjoy for many springs to come. 40,000 more bulbs were planted on October 4, 2023 brings the grand total to an impressive 130,000 daffodil bulbs now on full display along the Cass Park Trail!

Friends of Stewart Park sends a big thank you to the Ithaca Garden Club and Dr. Bill Miller, Cornell University Professor of Horticulture and Research Director of Horticulture Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, who guided this daffodil project using a unique planting machine given to Cornell’s College of Agriculture by the Dutch bulb company A. Geerlings. City Forester Jeanne Grace and her Parks and Forestry crews have also assisted in this impactful beautification effort.

MORE PARK AND TRAIL NEWS

April is Earth Month on the Waterfront

April is Earth Month on Ithaca's Waterfront
A colorful hot air balloon rises between trees along the waterfront

Mute Swans on Cayuga Lake as seen from the shore of Stewart Park yesterday.

Earth Month on Ithaca’s Waterfront

April 5 eNewsletter

Earth Day 2024 is Monday, April 22nd. FSP will be observing Earth Day throughout April with a series of volunteer spring cleaning events, an informative Pollinator Pathway presentation, a bird walk, and more. The fun begins tomorrow at our annual Waterfront Cleanup and continues on Sunday the 7th, also from 10 am to 12 pm, when the Ithaca High School lacrosse team and their parents will tackle trimming the vegetation along the edge of Cayuga Lake. On Saturday, the 13th Ithaca’s Dragon Boat Club will be picking up litter and gardening in Cass Park - also from 10 to 12 noon. And on Wednesday evening, April 17th, FSP will host a presentation about the Tompkins County Pollinator Pathway that features some of our pollinator gardens along the Waterfront Trail. Please join us at any or all of these events. Details on these and other events along the waterfront are provided below.


NOTE ON THE WEATHER AND OUR ANNUAL CLEANUP

FSP ANTICIPATES GOING AHEAD WITH THE WATERFRONT CLEANUP AS PLANNED - RAIN OR SHINE. HOWEVER SNOW COULD BE GAME CHANGER. WE WILL SEND AN ENEWS AT 9 AM SATURDAY IF THE WATERFRONT CLEANUP IS TO BE POSTPONED UNTIL SUNDAY MORNING.

Tomorrow morning join Friends of Stewart Park for its annual waterfront cleanup, on Saturday, April 6 from 10 am to noon! Dress for the weather, wear boots, and bring gloves, litter grabbers or any other of your favorite tools. Bags will be provided. Thanks to Zero Waste Ithaca for partnering with FSP on this cleanup. Meet at the Picnic “Large” Pavilion in Stewart Park. The weather looks cold but manageable with no April showers in sight! Help spread the word! Like and Share the event on Facebook.

Gardeners….bring along your gloves, boots and hand tools - hand pruners, hedge trimmers and loppers. We will be working along the lake edge cutting back False Indigo Bush and other invasives and also trimming last year’s growth at the Playground pollinator planting bed, adjacent to the Carousel.

Join FSP and Brandon Hoak, the Native Plant Specialist and Outreach Communicator for the Tompkins Pollinator Pathway for a virtual Pollinator Pathway presentation Wednesday, April 17 at 7pm. Register below to get a zoom link for the presentation.

Brandon will introduce the Tompkins Pollinator Pathway Project which aims to connect local gardens, parks, trails and landscapes to improve habitat corridors for pollinators in the county. His talk will look at Stewart Park and Waterfront Trail gardens and how they contribute to the local pathway. He will also share tips on how to find the right native plants; how to create a successful pollinator garden; and how to join the local pathway map. Like and share the event on Facebook.


Outside of his work the Tompkins Pollinator Pathway, Brandon is the founder of Busy Bee Ecological Designs, an endeavor dedicated to providing native gardening and sustainable landscape design to individuals. He is also one of the co-founders of Marshy Garden, a small-scale ecological restoration project connected with The Soil Factory, and a proud participant in the Tompkins Pollinator Pathway.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

SAVE THE DATE: On Saturday, June 8th Join Us for the First iNaturalist Waterfront Trail BioBlitz!

Frank Muller, FSP Landscape Gardener and avid photographer/naturalist, will be leading our first BioBlitz event on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. You can download the iNaturalist App from the iPhone App Store or the Google Play Store on Android devices.


iNaturalist is an online social network of people sharing biodiveristy information to help each other learn about nature. The free iNaturalist App helps you identify the plants and animals around you while generating data for science and conservation. By recording and sharing your observations, you’ll create research-quality data for local scientists working to better understand and protect nature in your region.


A BioBlitz is a communal citizen-science effort to record as many species within a designated location and time-period. They are a way for naturalists, scientists, and curious members of the public to meet in person in the great outdoors and, are a lot of fun! There are several tutorials to get you started with iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org. Stay tuned for more info coming soon!

Daffodils Are Dazzling Along the Waterfront Trail in Cass Park

In October 2020, the Ithaca Garden Club made an extraordinary gift to the City of Ithaca, with the planting of 12,000 narcissus bulbs and over 5,000 Grape Hyacinth and crocus bulbs. In 2022, the Garden Club celebrated their 100th year with a focus on continuing the mass planting of daffodils. Located along Taughannock Boulevard, just north of the Ithaca Children’s Garden, this daffodil planting creates a beautiful naturalizing splash of color for all to enjoy for many springs to come. 40,000 more bulbs were planted on October 4, 2023 brings the grand total to an impressive 130,000 daffodil bulbs now on full display along the Cass Park Trail!

Friends of Stewart Park sends a big thank you to the Ithaca Garden Club and Dr. Bill Miller, Cornell University Professor of Horticulture and Research Director of Horticulture Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, who guided this daffodil project using a unique planting machine given to Cornell’s College of Agriculture by the Dutch bulb company A. Geerlings. City Forester Jeanne Grace and her Parks and Forestry crews have also assisted in this impactful beautification effort.

You can support the effort by mailing a check to the Ithaca Garden Club, P.O. Box 4962, Ithaca, NY 14852 or make an online donation at www.ithacagardenclub.org/daff-a-dazzle.html.

FSP invites you to join Meena Haribal for a guided spring bird walk in Stewart Park!

Dress for the weather, bring your binoculars, and meet at the Cascadilla Boathouse at 8:30 am. Rain Date Sunday May 5. Click her for more Info. Like and share the event on Facebook.

MORE PARK AND TRAIL NEWS

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