How did we do on our 2019 Resolutions?
Looking back on 2019 and ahead to 2020!
At this time of year we all make resolutions, to drink less coffee or shed a few extra pounds and get in shape. Last year our company made a few resolutions: reduce our carbon footprint, reduce plastic and paper use, and implement other environmentally conscious practices. It’s a new decade and a great time to look back on how we did, but also forward to what we can do better.

Pollinator/Insect of the Month
Black and Gold Bumblebee
( Bombus auricomus )


This is a fairly common bumblebee species, found in the US and Canada east of the Rocky Mountains. Queens are active throughout most of the season while the workers emerge later in the summer. Heads, legs, and wings are black with yellow on the thorax and the second and third segments of the abdomen. They are a large bumblebee, about an inch long, with a long tongue that allows them to collect pollen from many different species of plants. Some of the native plants that the Black and Gold Bumblebee visit for pollen include bergamot (pictured right), Dalea spp., Echinacea spp., Penstemon spp., Asclepias spp., and many others.
Retail Nursery News

Mark Your Calendars!
Visit Us this Spring!
Here are our upcoming retail dates:

Fri. May 15th
Sat. May 16th
Fri. May 29th
Sat. May 30th

For more sale dates and information:
Non-native Species of the Month- Butter and Eggs- ( Linaria vulgaris)

Also known as Yellow Toadflax, Butter and Eggs is a weedy perennial from Europe that has spread throughout Minnesota. It propagates from seed and rhizomes that can form aggressive clumps. It grows 1-2 feet in full sun and partial shade, along roadsides, fields, and other disturbed areas. The irregular shaped yellow and orange flowers look similar to snapdragons and are about an inch long. The leaves are about 2 inches long and very thin, arranged alternately up the stem. Both leaves and stem are a light green and hairless. Management strategies include hand pulling, and weed whipping, especially before seed maturation. Larger colonies can be treated with herbicides.
Native Plant of the Month-
Prairie Tickseed ( Coreopsis palmata)

Prairie tickseed grows a short 1-2 feet and blooms from June to August. This small, stiff-stemmed prairie plant spreads by rhizomes and self seeding, forming colonies as it matures. Their stems are hairless except for occasional small tufts of hair at leaf bases. The stem leaves are unstalked and deeply trilobed to resemble a bird's foot. Flowers are 1"-2" in diameter, of a paler yellow and less ragged ends of ray florets than other Coreopsis species. This is an easy to grow plant that's also tough. Prairie tickseed grows well in sunny areas in poor soil that is mesic to dry and well drained. Most often found in prairies, savannas, dry open woods, and abandoned fields, their flowers are visited by bees, butterflies, beetles, moths, and wasps.
We love to read books about our natural world, and want to share our favorites with you! Every few months we will feature three books in our newsletter with dates where we will discuss them on our Facebook Page .
Here are the first three!
Wednesday February 26th
Wednesday March 25th
Wednesday April 29th
Forager Fix
Every other month we will talk about an edible non-native plant that you can serve up while at the same time, making room for our native species to grow on the landscape. This month's edible weed is Japanese Knotweed.

Natural Shore Technologies, Inc. | www.naturalshore.com