Small, bright pink flags scatter the Summit County landscape, in stark contrast with fall colors. Clusters of them can be seen along East Canyon Creek as well as the Quarry Mountain Trailhead and Meadows Drive.
They mark native seedlings the Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter and Park City teams planted as part of the free Utah Pollinator Habitat Program.
The Utah Legislature created the program in 2021 to expand the state’s pollinator habitat. It allows landowners to apply for native, pollinator-friendly plants and seeds each spring. Grantees then pick them up in the fall and plant them.
Swaner conservation coordinator Margaux Klingensmith said the pink flags mark where each seedling was sown.
“If we don't have the flags there, they just disappear into the landscape,” Klingensmith said. “It's really hard to find all of those individual tiny plants to get them water and to monitor their success rate.”
Swaner keeps the pink flags in place for about two years to track the plants' progress and ensure they take root.
Ecologist Sara Jo Dickens leads Park City and Summit County noxious weed control efforts. She said reestablishing native plants is part of that work.
But growing the vegetation can be difficult. Dickens said native shrubs and wildflowers can be especially picky, taking years to germinate from a seed. They also aren’t sold at larger nurseries or big box stores.
Dickens said the state pollinator program jump starts the process by providing seedlings.
“The state has taken on that risk in learning how to grow each of those species, which gives us access to something that we just can't go out and purchase in very many places,” Dickens said.
Park City received about 3,200 plants this year and placed them near the Quarry Mountain Trailhead, Meadows Drive, and the Round Valley pond.
Swaner received 300 wetland and 600 upland plant kits. They were planted along East Canyon Creek and the Stealth Access trail, which connects to Spring Creek.
Klingensmith said the kits can contain a variety of native plants that support different species of bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and other pollinators.
“Wetland plants that we might end up with would be like water groundsel, maybe some different grasses and sedges that do really well in wetter habitat,” she said. “What we would expect of the upland plants is, we see a ton of penstemons, usually some globe mallow, different things like blanket flower or prairie coneflower.”
Dickens said the variety is important because Utah has many different ecosystems with different plant and pollinator species.
The Beehive State has more than 900 species of native bees. The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food says those wild bees are key to ecosystem sustainability and food production, supporting fruit trees, raspberries, squashes, melons and cucumbers.
But as noxious weeds take over and native plants die, Dickens said those pollinators struggle.
“It's especially concerning for our bees because many of them, they're what we call specialists,” Dickens said. “That means that they really will only feed from either a few species of native wildflowers, shrubs, or grasses, or maybe even just one.”
Dickens said the program also supports migrating bird and butterfly species, like Monarchs.
“Having these native plants dispersed in pockets all over gives them landing ground as they're making their migratory paths, and it's super important for them to refuel as often as they can,” she said.
Dickens and Klingensmith said every square foot of native biodiversity helps. They encouraged residents to get involved in the program as well.
Homeowners can take a picture of the spot where they want to plant and apply starting March 1.
