Round Rock Library

#PlantWildflowers grant

Bees and other pollinators play a crucial role in nature, pollinating fruits, vegetables, grains, and flowers that are essential to both human agriculture and wild ecosystems. But these important pollinators are facing challenges from habitat and food supply decline, pesticides, and more.

Round Rock Public Library received a #PlantWildflowers Campaign grant to help our community support the native pollinators in our area. We’ll be highlighting the critical role bees and other pollinators play in healthy ecosystems.

These events are a great companion to the City of Round Rock’s Bee City USA initiative.

Special events at the library

RRPL will continue to support our local pollinators over the next couple of months with fun activities for the whole family, including:

Resources at your own pace

Stream the film that launched the #PlantWildflowers campaign, My Garden of a Thousand Bees, or check out the DVD from the library.
Join other Texans as we search for pollinators Oct. 7 – 23, 2022 in the Texas Pollinator Bioblitz. Search when and where you want. Upload photos to Instagram, iNaturalist, or Facebook.
Plant your #OneSquareFoot wildflower meadow. Pick up seeds at the Children’s Reference Desk or at a #PlantWildflower event.
A bioblitz is one type of Citizen Science project. Visit SciStarter.org to see other ways people of all ages and backgrounds can assist in scientific research projects. PRO TIP: An easy project for kids to try is called QuestaGame–just head outside and take photos.

Which pollinators and habitats can you find around town? Play the scavenger hunt at bit.ly/RRPL-bee-search
Nature Trackers is one of the kid-friendly Citizen Science activities sponsored by the Texas Parks and Wildlife department. Help Texas biologists document various species, including invertebrates such as many of our native pollinators.
Provide shelter for native bees. You can build or buy a shelter, or just make sure you are keeping the things bees need in the areas you influence.
Support the endangered Monarch butterflies by providing appropriate native plants, especially milkweed–or you might even try to establish the space near you as a Monarch Waystation. Milkweed seeds are available for small donations at Live Monarch. Monarch Joint Venture has milkweed growing instructions.
Plant for the places you live, and take care of the native plants and critters who share your place. You can even designate your balcony, yard, schoolyard, or other area as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.
Become an X Kid with the Xerces Society. Move through activities that help kids become protectors for invertebrates.
We live along the Monarch Highway. Learn more about the monarch life cycle and migration. And find lots of educational materials from Monarch Watch.
Round Rock is so fortunate to be so close to the world-renowned Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Explore the latest research on native plants, find information, and try out educational activities on the website. And maybe venture to South Austin for a field trip.
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has a wealth of information and educational opportunities about native plants and critters, including pollinators. You might want to explore programs such as the Texas Children in Nature Program, or become a Texas Master Naturalist. Local members of the Good Water Master Naturalists are frequent programming partners with the library.
The Texas Parks & Wildlife podcast Under the Texas Sky has episodes about pollinators. We really enjoyed this episode about pollinators and native plants featuring an interview with invertebrate biologists and the horticulture director of the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Feeling crafty? We feel like libraries sit at that perfect intersection of community well-being and wordplay. Celebrate your love of bees and words with free NYT Spelling Bee knitting patterns for a hat or hand warmers. Designs are by Sarah Sinclair.
My Garden of a Thousand Bees

When the film My Garden of a Thousand Bees was completed, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and PBS Nature launched the #PlantWildflowers campaign. This campaign encourages communities across the U.S. to better understand the importance of native bees and other pollinators.

They hope this understanding will lead communities to create new pollinator habitats where pollinators can thrive.

“We hope this film astonishes and delights audiences as they watch never before seen footage documenting the daily lives of different species of bees, said Dr. Sean B. Carroll, Head of HHMI Tangled Bank Studios.

“And we want everyone who sees this film to realize that wherever they are, they can make a difference for native bees like the ones in the film by planting their own pollinator-friendly wildflowers.”

Watch the library’s online calendar and social media channels July – October to learn more about these events.

Free local wildflower seeds

RRPL’s grant included 2,000 packets of local wildflower seeds, as well as $1000 for programming and educational materials.

Each packet of wildflower seeds should provide approximately one square foot of habitat for local pollinators.

Grow your seeds in a pot, in your garden, in a protected area of your lawn, or adopt some open land where you can tend to your seedlings as they get established.

The seeds are part of the One Square Foot initiative from the WWF and Airwick.

About PBS Nature

Nature pioneered a television genre that brings the natural world to millions of viewers. The series has won more than 700 honors from the television industry, the international wildlife film communities, and environmental organizations. These honors include 20 Emmys and three Peabodys.

Nature is among the most-watched prime time series on PBS. It is committed to innovation through original digital programming. It also works to convert viewers into doers.

Nature is a production of the WNET Group for PBS.

About HHMI Tangled Bank Studios

HHMI Tangled Bank Studios is a mission-driven production company that crafts films about science and scientists for broadcast, theatrical, and digital distribution.

As storytellers within a dedicated science organization, the studio has a unique voice. It uses its voice to educate communities about significant scientific challenges and breakthroughs.

To deepen the learning and extend the reach of each film project, the studio undertakes educational and public outreach efforts in partnership with mission-driven organizations.

The #PlantWildflowers initiative is one such educational and public outreach effort.

About Martin Dohrn and Passion Pictures

To produce the documentary My Garden of a Thousand Bees, wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn teamed up with producer and director David Allen at Passion Pictures.

Passion Pictures specializes in both feature documentary productions and landmark natural history productions. It has won two Academy Awards for its work.

Martin Dohrn is an Emmy award-winning, three-time Bafta-nominated filmmaker who has been producing natural history films for more than 30 years.

He is an innovator in low-light and macro filming techniques. which allows audiences a unique look into the natural world.

David Allen is a five-time Emmy award winner. He creates a wide range of science and natural history documentaries.

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