13:06:32 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : Thanks Frost!
13:08:11 From Naomi Jones to Everyone : Naomi Jones here. No expertise. Just enjoy having a chemical-free yard and garden (flowers and veggies).
13:08:14 From laurie edlund to Everyone : Laurie Edlund. Interested in the environment generally, and gathering info on presenting this as an option to our HOA.
13:08:22 From Kelly to Everyone : I'm Kelly and excited about many things. I have a crazy yard and have been putting in more native plants. 
13:08:40 From Rachel She/Hers to Everyone : Hello! I’m Rachel. I’m really interested in food forests on public lands. For myself, I’m interested in changing my current monoculture yard into something more sustainable
13:08:43 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : Tammy Schmitz--love preserving habitat for monarchs and using native Minnesota plants to help them. A wonderful additional benefit is that these plants filter pollutants out of rainwater that falls on the land as it soaks in.
13:08:53 From Catherine Polovick to Everyone : catherine polovick *I’m excited to learn more about how to support native plant growth in my yard and home ❤️
13:08:55 From Kelly to Everyone : crazy yard meaning full of plants, flowers, critters
13:09:14 From shea roberts gyllen they/them to Everyone : hi! I’m Shea (they/them). my family has been a part of the heights community for 3 years now. very excited about honoring the people whose land we are on by commuting to returning land to native plants, feeding community, and environmental justice
13:09:30 From Columbia Heights to Everyone : Hi Everyone! Kelli Bourgeois. I’m the City Manager for Columbia Heights and very interested in helping our City become more monarch and pollinator friendly. I also have a native pollinator planting at my home.
13:09:35 From Scott VanCleave to Everyone : Scott and Brook.  Love to garden and support all the creatures in the environment.
13:09:42 From Sarah Evenson to Everyone : Hi! Like Amada said, I'm a landscape architect with  expertise in native planting design and sustainable landscape planning, so I'm excited to take a look at ways we can incorporate more habitat throughout the City!
13:09:53 From Courtney Ault she/her to Everyone : Courtney Ault here. I am VERY excited about Spring and seeing all of those pollinators return to my yard!
13:09:56 From Renee Dougherty to Everyone : Renee Dougherty, CH Library, excited about native plants and to share library resources.
13:09:56 From Michele Schluender to Everyone : Hello!  I'm Michele, and I have turned about 1/4 of my yard into a native prairie/native woodland in the last few years thanks to a grant from Lawns to Legumes.  I'm taking a break from transforming my yard for a while, but will be building the pollinator habitat at Blooming Sunshine Food Forest this year (Lomianki park)
13:11:28 From Teresa Eisenbise to Everyone : I’m Teresa and passionate about sustainability and preserving the native environment
13:12:06 From Andrew Newton to Everyone : hey everyone.  Andy here...  we are in the process of converting our yard into a meadow. about 1/2 way there.  lots of native plants and flowers, especially goldenrod, aster, coneflowers, daisies, Susans, etc.
13:12:18 From Barbara Babekuhl to Everyone : Barb Babekuhl excited to see the city partner with the community in progressive thinking helping the environment.  So glad to be working together! 
13:12:43 From Sue Betzold to Everyone : Hi, I'm Sue and very interested in bringing the butterfly population back to Columbia Heights and beyond.
13:13:42 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : So excited to hear that native plants are going in around Jackson Pond!
13:13:58 From Linda Fowler to Everyone : Hi I am Linda Fowler. I am interested in growing native plants and raising monarchs.
13:16:10 From Shirley Jackson to Everyone : great cooperative project, building community as we support healthy environment
13:17:33 From Dana Brandes to Everyone : Hi all!  I’m Dana Brandes.  Recently moved to Columbia Heights and am in the Master Gardener program for Anoka County.  Passionate about native plants and planting for pollinators!
13:18:44 From Barbara Kondrick to Everyone : Hi, I’m Barb Kondrick. I’ve been trying to turn
13:18:56 From Linda's iPad to Everyone : hi everyone, I’m Linda Zuidema. So glad that we are getting involved with this! I’m interested in establishing some native plant areas and sharing this info with my neighbors.
13:22:58 From Barbara Kondrick to Everyone : Barb Kondrick again, sorry! I’ve been working over the past several years to add pollinator friendly gardens to our yard, but it’s been pretty hit and miss. I’m so excited that there is so much interest in this project.
13:25:39 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : By mapping we could also intentionally create habitat to help smaller bees reach food between sites.
13:28:04 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : The school garden is amazing and is linked to education in the district and community, as Amada mentioned. They welcome visitors to check it out!
13:30:05 From Courtney Ault she/her to Everyone : Are all of these events virtual?
13:30:42 From Renee Dougherty to Everyone : The library class is virtual. 763-706-3690 to register.
13:30:42 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : The birdscaping speaker is  a great!
13:31:28 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : MWMO staff are very knowledgeable too for a resource.
13:33:23 From Mindy Kirschman to Everyone : Hello, all!  Mindy Kirschman here. Heights resident for 15 years.  I love gardening. Looking forward to helping monarchs in my own yard and in the community.
13:33:54 From Barbara Babekuhl to Frost Simula(Direct Message) : Hi Frost- The city is a great resource for homeowners to look to for leadership, so specifically what are the long term plans for the city to reduce the amount of pesticides? (Maybe Kelly can help with this answer?) 
13:34:38 From Frost Simula to Barbara Babekuhl(Direct Message) : Thanks, Barb! I’ll pass this question along.
13:37:28 From Margo Ashmore to Everyone : Has city gardening staff already changed pesticides and herbicides, or should it start there? Beyond that, good luck getting individuals to learn alternatives.
13:38:15 From Frost Simula to Margo Ashmore(Direct Message) : Thanks Margo! I’ll pass this question along.
13:40:42 From Kelly Lightbeam to Everyone : Kelly & Jon Beaman ~ interested in planting native species and supporting monarchs and pollinators!
13:41:26 From Michele Schluender to Frost Simula(Direct Message) : Happy birthday, Frost!  From me and Joe (your birthday twin) :^)
13:42:04 From connie buesgens to Everyone : ordinance change
13:42:13 From Rachel She/Hers to Everyone : Columbia Heights library is offering the birding class, is there any plan on having a class specifically on planting for butterflies? Like where, when and how do you plant milkweed? Or other plants? It would be nice to have somewhere to educate ourselves but also point people to in our neighborhoods if they’re interested :)
13:44:06 From Frost Simula to Michele Schluender(Direct Message) : Thanks Michele and Joe! And Happy Birthday to you too!
13:44:08 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : Will the city do some outreach education to help people understand changes in social expectations about lawns? It would be great if they could, as this can be very helpful.
13:44:11 From Linda Fowler to Everyone : is there a list or something to refer to what plants are native and polliators the city wants planted
13:44:38 From Renee Dougherty to Everyone : The birdscaping class at the library  on 3/18 will focus on planting habitats that provide food, cover and resting sites for birds, bees, and butterflies.
13:44:44 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : Good point Barb!
13:44:50 From shea roberts gyllen they/them to Everyone : yeah, helping people reframe what taking care of the land you are on looks like
13:45:04 From Sarah Evenson to Everyone : Here's a good resource for native plantings: https://bluethumb.org/native-plant-gardens/
13:45:22 From Scott VanCleave to Everyone : Will there be an effort for inclusion around this project, efforts to include more members of the BIPOC community?
13:45:30 From Sarah Evenson to Everyone : MetroBlooms is also a great resource for people who want to learn: https://metroblooms.org/
13:45:42 From laurie edlund to Everyone : Q - Are you going to put together a presentation that can be given to HOA Boards to go over benefits, etc.  Especially for those “resistant” boards, show that we can do the work with volunteers, not cost to the HOA, etc.
13:45:43 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : Thank you for sharing that information Kelli! Sounds like good forward-thinking steps?
13:46:04 From Leo James to Everyone : Great group! Leo here, Rachel and I have been designating parts of our yard for Butterflies / Bees for 10 years (as of this spring). Hoping to have half pollinator friendly by this year. Glad to be part of this.
13:46:12 From shea roberts gyllen they/them to Everyone : echoing Scott’s question
13:46:56 From Barbara Babekuhl to Everyone : Agree, thanks Kelly that's all great news to hear! 
13:47:06 From Barbara Kondrick to Everyone : I love the idea of yard signs—and, as Margo mentioned, adding signage to city garden areas. I’d love to see signs with the names of the plants identified. And, maybe someday, a walking tour designed for people who want to see those plants in the various garden areas.
13:47:43 From Cathy Kehrwald to Everyone : Is there an ordinance preventing us from planting ¨shaggy¨ native plants in front yards?
13:47:52 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : Yard signs are great idea! Keep simple and bright so easy to see, read and absorb as people drive by.
13:48:18 From Andrew Newton to Everyone : Is there a chance we could, eventually, as a city, place some restrictions on residential use of harmful lawn chemicals?  Would citizen petitions be helpful in moving this idea forward?
13:48:55 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : Great point Scott and Shea about inclusiveness!
13:49:40 From Leo James to Everyone : Andy, great question and this is an area I am thinking about assisting in.
13:50:08 From Margo Ashmore to Frost Simula(Direct Message) : Possibly reach out to the new senior building at 37th & University - Legends - I have noticed there are a lot of seniors in that building who wear traditional garb…not sure of their derivation.
13:52:51 From Barbara Babekuhl to Everyone : Also wanted to give kudos to the city & Kevin Hanson and the public works department are always so helpful to listening to input from residents and incorporating these visions into upcoming projects (ex; 37th) Sure missed the city expo this year! 
13:54:07 From Shirley Jackson to Everyone : Love the multicultural approach here
13:54:07 From Scott VanCleave to Everyone : Yes, learning opportunities for all.
13:54:31 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : I'll echo Barbara's kudos to our Public Works staff. Kevin, Lauren and team have been awesome to work with.
13:54:51 From Glenn Witte to Everyone : Excellent idea for Native garden and I would be very willing to be a part of it's development.
13:56:00 From Rachel She/Hers to Everyone : Find an HOA that has already done it…is there someone who has already done it? No need to re-invent the wheel
13:56:32 From Courtney Ault she/her to Everyone : I have to drop, I look forward to the follow up email!
13:56:58 From Lisa Mutch-Regge to Everyone : can we get a list out to the community of growers who don’t use neonicotinoids on the plants they grow for sale.
13:57:15 From Sue Betzold to Everyone : I have another commitment so have to leave.  Looking forward to follow up emails and further information.
13:57:53 From Columbia Heights to Everyone : I don’t have a timeline on the ordinance amendment but have worked with Dan on the guidelines.
13:59:51 From Sarah Evenson to Everyone : If you'd like to source native plants from reputable sources that won't be using neonicotinoids, you can look to Prairie Restoration Inc, Minnesota Native Landscapes, or Outback Nursery. Worth noting that Outback Nursery is also indigenous-owned  :)
14:00:35 From Barbara Babekuhl to Everyone : Hurts PETS too
14:02:17 From Michele Schluender to Everyone : In the past, Mother Earth Gardens also has had a good, wide selection of non-neonicotinoid native plants.  I assume they'll have them this year as well
14:03:12 From Scott VanCleave to Everyone : Folks can download the chat to save any resources shared in the chat thread today.
14:03:32 From Barbara Babekuhl to Everyone : That would get owners who care about animals involved also once they realize the harm to their dogs and cats! 
14:04:14 From Rachel She/Hers to Everyone : Can we get Sarah to give a dedicated talk on on this topic?
14:05:16 From Tammy Schmitz to Frost Simula(Direct Message) : Frost --could I add a comment to help HOAs get going? 
14:05:23 From Sarah Evenson to Everyone : haha, Rachel- happy to be a resource! We'll see what form that takes :)
14:05:28 From Frost Simula to Tammy Schmitz(Direct Message) : Yes!
14:05:34 From Renee Dougherty to Everyone : The library has print and ebooks and videos about native plants, wildlife, and gardening that can be borrowed with your library card. Lynn Steiner has some good titles on gardening with native plants in Minnesota.
14:05:39 From Barbara Kondrick to Everyone : Does the city use flowering plants, like clover, in any of their turf areas?
14:07:29 From Aza Donnelly to Everyone : can we create a facebook page for a CH pollinator group?
14:08:04 From Lisa Mutch-Regge to Everyone : maybe a version of little libraries on block , to share seeds , the postcard idea just mentioned sounds great.
14:08:16 From Barbara Babekuhl to Everyone : Love the Facebook group idea!
14:08:20 From Rachel She/Hers to Everyone : +1 on Lisa’s little free seed library idea
14:12:00 From shea roberts gyllen they/them to Everyone : I have to get kids down. excited for the future of this!
14:12:10 From Lisa Mutch-Regge to Everyone : what do you think of this fall / winter having a winter sowing project to create a low cost or donating the resulting plants to areas that cost might be an issue or want to try new things.
14:12:20 From Scott VanCleave to Everyone : Maybe a big event around National Night Out, assuming it can be COVID safe.
14:14:09 From Lisa Mutch-Regge to Everyone : I have done quite a bit of education projects with kids, they love the hands on projects.
14:14:18 From Sarah Evenson to Everyone : My littlest is up from his nap, so I may be back...
14:14:33 From Barbara Kondrick to Everyone : Sometimes, because there’s so much heavy clay soil in Columbia Heights, it’s quite a challenge to even start developing new garden areas. Any suggestions to get help with that?
14:15:53 From Rachel She/Hers to Everyone : Any work with the U to get people’s yards tested for the soil. Help people get more information on their own yard.
14:16:05 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : ou can choose plants more comfortable in clay and/or mitigate the clay with compost deep enough for the types of plants you want to plant. 
14:18:27 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : That would be very cool Renee! Especially with the native plantings and raingardens there.
14:18:28 From Aza Donnelly to Everyone : thank you so much for this! looking forward to spring.
14:18:34 From Barbara Babekuhl to Everyone : A Little of topic but; These little libraries are great does the city have a map of all the different types through out the city?
14:18:53 From Rachel She/Hers to Everyone : With housing being so crazy, I imagine that we have a lot of new homeowners in town. Would be great to connect with them from the beginning to help them as they learn their lawn
14:20:17 From Andrew Newton to Everyone : as the art festival chair, I can promise a partnership.  :-)
14:21:43 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : Good advice Rachel :)
14:24:05 From Margo Ashmore to Everyone : http://nokomiseast.org/10th-annual-minneapolis-monarch-festival-9-8/  looks like the last one they did was 2019 (understandable as last year would have been Covid)
14:24:40 From Scott & Brook @ 49th & Jefferson to Everyone : We’re excited to visit all the parks and places covered in your presentation today.
14:25:02 From Tammy Schmitz to Everyone : Such great information sharing and brainstorming everyone! Thanks to our City for hosting and offering this :)
14:25:21 From Barbara Babekuhl to Everyone : Thank you Amada, Connie & Kelly for your leadership!! 
14:25:48 From Sarah Evenson to Everyone : Thanks so much for getting this in motion! I'm excited for next steps!
14:26:08 From Naomi Jones to Everyone : Just so glad this initiative is being promoted!
14:27:11 From Renee Dougherty to Everyone : Thank you