Fw: City of Albany Biodiversity Working Group
Erin Johanns
Sent: Tuesday, June 9, 2026 4:09 PM
To: Erin Johanns <ejoh...@albanyny.gov>
Subject: RE: City of Albany Biodiversity Working Group
Hi Erin,
I looked over your brochure. There’s no mention of Host plants that are important for pollinators to complete their lifecycle. It is important to incorporate some into a pollinator garden because nectar and pollen aren’t all that pollinators need. (Milkweed is a host plant for the Monarch butterfly.)
I have comments about the Suggested Common Native Plants:
I would not recommend Canada Goldenrod it is very aggressive and not good for a small garden. It spreads and out competes other plants very quickly. Showy Goldenrod -Solidago speciosa or Blue-stemmed Goldenrod- Solidago caesia would be better choices.
Correct Botanical Name for Common Yarrow, Achillea millefolium
Blue Lobelia- Lobelia siphilitica is a great plant for part-shade
New England Aster is beautiful but gets tall 5’. Aromatic Aster- Symphyotrichum oblongifolium only gets to be about 2’
Spotted Joe-Pye Weed, even small varieties get to be 4’-5’ high by 5’ wide. Need enough space to grow.
These are all summer fall bloomers, may want to have a list to share of seasonal bloomers.
You mention starting seeds in the Winter, we offer Winter seed sowing workshops. Where we teach them to plant seeds in Milk jugs which are left outside.
Do you want to offer a class sometime on Native pollinator plants for Urban gardens? If so, I’d need to revamp my power point to be more specific for small urban gardens but could possibly do late Summer-early Fall.
Carole
Carole Henry
Community Horticulture Program Manager
Cornell Cooperative Extension
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From: Erin Johanns <ejoh...@albanyny.gov>
Sent: Friday, June 5, 2026 5:39 PM
To: Carole Henry <ch...@cornell.edu>
Subject: City of Albany Biodiversity Working Group
Greetings Carole,
I hope you're having a good spring into the heat of summer. I'm reaching out to you on behalf of the City's Biodiversity working group to tell you more about one of our initiatives, Native Flower Gardens for private residents. We've been workshopping an educational pamphlet to provide the most basic information on starting a native flower garden following City protocol.
If you get the chance, I would love to get your thoughts and opinions on our draft. Please find attached.
I so appreciate your partnership with Love Your Block and hope we can continue to collaborate together for the ecological health of the Capital Region.
Best,
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