BROOKINGS – Just to the west of the Pioneer Cabin in Brookings’ Pioneer Park is a plot filled with a jumbled mix of unkempt grass and wildflowers, many of which are still in bloom.

That’s according to plan, said Mitch Pederson, park technician with the city.

The spot in Pioneer Park is one of three pollinator plots maintained by the city, he said. The other two are in the community gardens and one at Dakota Nature Park that covers multiple acres.

“Pollinator plots are plots of native wildflowers. They are there to attract different bees, wasps, ants, flies, hummingbirds,” Pederson said. “Those are the pollinators that carry the food and also cross pollinate plants so our food sources can produce.”

The numbers of some of those pollinators have been declining, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Losses of bee colonies have been recognized since 2006 and the National Research Council published a 2007 report “Status of Pollinators in North America” to document the decline of pollinators, possible causes, and what can be done to address the issue.

Installing the native grasses and wildflowers next to the “rustic prairie cabin” was “a good tie-in,” Pederson said.

“It’s also one of our higher used parks with the Arts Festival, so it’s a good way to help advertise pollinator awareness and the importance of pollinators and what the city of Brookings is doing to help with that,” he said.

Pederson said the city wants to lead the way in re-establishing the dwindling pollinator population and set a good example for residents to follow.

“The big role of this is to create a lot of biodiversity … having different wildflowers,” Pederson said.

To do that, the city planted 24 different kinds of wildflowers and three types of prairie grass, all native to the area.

Some that most folks would recognize are Black-eyed Susan, a yellow flower a lot of people already have in their yards; Butterfly Milkweed, which “is getting a little more popular”; Rough Blazingstar or Button Blazingstar which has a purple head and “really attracts butterflies”; New England Astor “has a really beautiful purple head” that is in bloom right now; and grayhead or yellowhead coneflower, “a lot of your coneflowers are fairly popular, too,” Pederson said.

The three native grasses they planted are Little Bluestem, Rough Dropseed and Sideoats Grama.

The reason those 24 wildflowers were chosen is the wide variety of blooming seasons, Pederson said. It’s important to have plants that bloom in the spring, summer and fall so the pollinators have a constant food supply.

Native plants do well with very little human help in the sometimes harsh climate of the Upper Midwest.

The plots are not “manicured” by design, Pederson said.

“That’s a big push with the Pheasants Forever group. … It creates a good pheasant habitat for brood rearing, so the young pheasants can eat all the insects,” he said, adding that pheasant chicks eat insects for the first six to eight weeks.

“So these plots, on a larger scale, like in agricultural settings around farms, can really help produce pheasants.”

He hasn’t seen any in the Pioneer Park plot but expects there are probably some at Dakota Nature Park.

Working together on the project with the city were the Brookings Wildlife Federation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife spearheaded by Boyd Schulz, Brookings County Conservation, Brookings Chapter of Pheasants Forever, and Millborn Seeds.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Millborn Seeds picked out the seeds.

“Wildlife Federation, Pheasants Forever, and the Brookings County Conservation all promote these kind of sustainable activity and practices and so their role is more of helping get this going throughout the community,” Pederson said.

“The purpose of what the Park and Recreation Department is trying to do is to show that homeowners can do some things, maybe not even that large in their backyards and in their landscaping,” he said.

“This has been a great collaboration project,” Pederson said. “It can pave the way for homeowners to do the same thing throughout the community.”

He said interested homeowners can check with local greenhouses and ask about native plants and their blooming periods, depending on what insects or birds they want to attract. The pollinator plots can be incorporated into the landscape and take into consideration the topography and runoff areas.

“Another way people can help is get youth involved, that’s always a good way to help pass down the education to the next generation because they’re ultimately who are gonna be our next leaders in town and move Brookings forward to be a proactive community,” he said.

To help raise awareness, the city will erect three two by four foot signs at the plots, probably in the spring, Pederson said

“It gives some good facts; definitely some good pictures, too, some close-ups of the different pollinators,” he said.

For now, they will keep an eye on the plots they have and see how they take.

“Sometimes they can take up to three to five years for getting established … so we’re gonna see how they respond and see that we can maintain them properly before we add more,” Pederson said.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.