Landscaping for Pollinators Workshop & Native Plant Sale

Back by popular demand!

Just in time to plan for the fall planting season, the Chatham County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension will offer a workshop on Landscaping for Pollinators and Other Wildlife on Friday September 19, 2025. The workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center in Pittsboro.

Chatham County Agricultural Extension Agent Debbie Roos will share lessons learned during her 17 years of experience designing and managing the popular Pollinator Paradise Demonstration Garden in Pittsboro that features over 225 species of perennials, 85% of them native to North Carolina. Debbie will talk about design principles but focus on the practical such as winning plant combinations and the best pollinator plants for each season. Participants will be given the tools to create a basic pollinator garden design that can be planted at their farm or home landscape.

Topics include:

• General Guidelines for Pollinator Gardens
• Debbie's Top 25 Native Pollinator Plants
• Beyond Pollinators: Planting for Birds, Herps, and other Wildlife
• Tools for Selecting Plants
• Designing your Garden
• Winning Plant Combinations
• “Wild” Pollinator Gardens
• Garden Installation and Maintenance
• Resources

The workshop will include hands-on pollinator garden design practice.

The workshop will conclude with a native plant sale featuring our Chatham County native plant nurseries:

• Growing Wild Nursery
• Mellow Marsh Farm
• Rachel's Native Plants

Pre-registration is required. The deadline for registration is September 10. The cost for the workshop is $65 and includes a light breakfast, catered lunch, and extensive handouts created as tools to help with plant selection and garden design.

A bout the Speaker

Debbie Roos has been the Sustainable Agriculture Agent for the Chatham County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension for 25 years where she is responsible for programming in the areas of commercial vegetable production, organic production, pollinator conservation, and beekeeping. Debbie worked for three years as an Agroforestry Extension Agent and Technical Trainer for the Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa, and later completed graduate degrees in applied anthropology and horticulture at the University of Florida. Debbie delivers educational programming to growers through regular workshops, webinars, and her award-winning Growing Small Farms website. Debbie is passionate about pollinator conservation and created a demonstration Pollinator Paradise Garden that is used for education and outreach. In 2019 Debbie received the Governor’s Conservation Achievement Award as the Wildlife Conservationist of the Year from the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.

Workshop Feedback

When this workshop was last conducted in the fall of 2024, 99% of participants said they felt prepared to design, plant, and maintain their own pollinator garden as a result of what they learned.

Here's a sampling of what participants said about the Landscaping for Pollinators workshop in 2024:

• I have struggled with garden design. After this workshop I felt like I could do it… I have tried for years to get my garden on paper…now it is done!
• I loved learning Debbie's practical and experiential approach to landscape design and the interesting tidbits about insect and plant species she provides every minute!
• All of the beautiful pictures really add to the learning and appreciating. And the handouts are so thorough and such an amazing resource!
• There were so many things I liked! I learned so much, but I liked that I now have tools and resources to do my very own pollinator garden.
• I came out of the workshop feeling enthusiastic and inspired.
• The diversity and depth of the workshop were invaluable.
• I enjoyed learning from someone who has started from scratch and has learned by trial and error. It’s hard not to be excited by Debbie’s passion and enthusiasm.
• The hands-on garden design project was very useful for creating a better, more efficient layout
• The time allotted to work on our own design was so helpful! The set-up and resources we had made it a time that will ensure my pollinator garden actually gets planted!
• This is the best presentation of this type that I have ever seen.

Contact Debbie Roos if you have any questions about the workshop.

Visit the Pollinator Paradise Garden website to view snapshots from the garden through the seasons.

Host or Publisher N.C. Cooperative Extension, Chatham County