Native wildflowers on a formerly bare lot

Our Projects

Where the work is happening

A project portfolio that tells the truth about status: what is planned, what is underway, and what is finished.

Where we are today: our first project cycle

Project Pollinator formed in 2026 and is now developing its first garden sites near East High School. That means we have no completed gardens to report yet, and we will not invent acreage, plant counts, volunteer totals, or outcomes to fill the space. What follows is an accurate account of the sites we are working on, with the goals we have set for each one.

As work moves forward, each entry below will be updated with photographs, progress reports, and volunteer needs.

PlanningIn ProgressCompleted

Printed garden plans and small potted native seedlings ready for a site visit

PlanningNear East High School, Columbus

East High School Neighborhood Garden Sites

Our first garden builds are being planned near East High School, the neighborhood where Project Pollinator began. Site selection, permissions, and native plant choices for Central Ohio conditions are in progress.

Habitat and education goals

Select and secure permission for the first garden site
Choose Central Ohio native species suited to the site's sun, soil, and moisture
Design the garden as an outdoor classroom for students

Volunteer opportunities: We are not recruiting for a specific workday yet. Share your interest and we will reach out when site work is scheduled.

Native wildflowers growing on a formerly barren lot

PlanningColumbus — candidate sites being identified

Urban Pollinator Reserves

The idea behind the original Slingshot Challenge entry: turning overlooked land such as vacant lots and unused strips into small reserves of native plants that feed and shelter pollinators, even in the middle of the city.

Habitat and education goals

Identify overlooked parcels with willing owners or public partners
Test small-scale native plantings that neighbors can maintain
Document pollinator activity through student photography and observation

Volunteer opportunities: Have a site in mind? Suggest it through our Get Involved page.

From the field

Photographs from our work

Insects, plants, and the people who tend them. Photographs are published only with permission.

Two pairs of hands pressing a small green native seedling into dark garden soil — Hands planting native seedlings during a planting project

Printed site plans, pencils, and several small potted native seedlings arranged on a table — Planning materials and seedlings before a site visit

Close-up of a fuzzy bee covered in pollen resting on the center of a purple flower — A bee gathering pollen on a native flower

Orange and black monarch butterfly with wings spread, resting on a pink native flower — Monarch butterfly on a native bloom

Mixed native wildflowers and grasses in bloom on a formerly bare patch of ground — What a native planting can look like once established

Add to the Map

Know a space that could become habitat?

Most of our candidate sites will come from people who live near them. Tell us what you have noticed.

Suggest a site How site review works

Be part of the next garden

Students, neighbors, teachers, property owners, and local organizations all have a role in this work.

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