Get Involved in Supporting Our Pollinators
Posted by Sara Berg on Jun 8th 2026
Get Involved in Supporting Our Pollinators
Minnesota and the Twin Cities Metro area are wholeheartedly passionate about flora, fauna, and the protecting the natural world around us. There are so many outstanding organizations based in our area that are making waves in protecting our pollinators and encouraging our neighbors to do the same! Want to learn more and get involved? Read on!
Take the Pollinator Pledge
Take the City of Minnetonka's Polli-Neighbor Pledge to help pollinators thrive in our community!
- Choose diverse native plants to provide food for pollinators in all their life stages.
- Include milkweed - it's the only food monarch caterpillars can eat.
- Use fewer yard chemicals - they can harm or kill pollinators.
- Provide winter habitat, such as leaf piles and bare soil patches.
Meet Metro Blooms
Metro Blooms provides resources to help people care for land and water. This often includes support to install rain gardens that filter and clean water or native plantings that provide habitat for pollinators. Metro Blooms is a non-profit that is also comprised of their education program Blue Thumb, and their for-profit landscaping company Metro Blooms Design & Build that supports their non-profit endeavors.
Blue Thumb is a network of clean water and native plant stewards creating change to bridge the gap between knowledge and action by offering resources and programs to Minnesotan residents. Their website is jam-packed with resources to help you find plants, grants, and other information on making your lawn a more sustainable habitat!
Lawns to Legumes is a free, guided program from Blue Thumb that helps Minnesotans create, expand, or care for pollinator-friendly spaces—step by step, and alongside a community of others doing the same.
Join them for an in-person workshop on Planting for Clean Water: Shorelines in Fridley on June 23rd from 6:00-7:30pm. You do not need to be a resident of the Rice Creek Watershed District to attend. More information and registration available here!
Survey Your Yard
Walk around your property and identify/map places where you might add native plants. These places might include:
- Turf grass you don’t make use of (or which requires significant maintenance)
- Barren areas, such as after a construction project
- A place you’ve recently removed buckthorn, garlic mustard, or other invasive species
- A garden area where plants aren’t thriving, often due to being in the wrong light, soil or moisture conditions
- A garden space where plants are doing okay, but there isn’t much pollinator activity
If you’re inspired to "dig" deeper, check out the Habitat Assessment Guides by the Xerces Society here.
Become a Citizen Scientist
Share your observations of nectaring monarch butterflies. Visit the Xerces Society's Monarch Nectar Plant Observation Submission page here, and share which plant species and location you saw a monarch visiting. Next, submit a good photo to help ID plants and butterflies. Submissions should be made of monarchs nectaring on native plants.
Three Rivers Parks
Give back to nature while giving back to your community. As a volunteer, you'll be part of a vibrant team protecting our precious natural resources, helping park guests have smooth and enjoyable outdoor adventures, and inspiring the next generation.
Plant Care and Gardening: Have a green thumb? Help maintain the beauty in our parks by nurturing plants at the District Nursery in Crow-Hassan Park Reserve — which will support habitat restoration throughout the park district — or help keep Noerenberg Memorial Gardens beautiful by planting and weeding.
Prairie Seed Collection: Seed collecting provides an opportunity to learn about the prairie’s rich history and how to identify many of the plants while helping to restore park land to native prairies.
Invasive Plant Removal: Help keep our parks safe from harmful plants by joining us to remove invasive species.
Invasive Species Surveys: Use your plant identification and map navigation skills to survey park land for new invasive plant species so we can monitor and remove them to keep our forests healthy.
Read more about these opportunities and more here.
Minneapolis Parks
Support the health and beauty of our parks through one-time or long-term service! Volunteer opportunities are available all throughout the Minneapolis Parks area.
View Volunteer Opportunities Map here.
View Volunteer Events Calendar here.
Pollinator Party
Celebrate Pollinators with your neighbors July 23rd at Lyndale Park Gardens on the Northeast side of Lake Harriet in Minneapolis!
Bees, scientists, beekeepers, musicians, artists, food purveyors and a host of exhibitors come together to celebrate the life and work of honey bees, native bees and other pollinators. More information here.
Resources at Tonkadale
If you would like to learn more about supporting pollinators, feel free to stop in and ask! Otherwise, email us at hello@tonkadale.com - we're here to help!