Pollinators' Palooza, May 14

Saturday, May 14, 9 a.m.

Putnam Museum & Science Center, 1717 West 12th Street, Davenport IA

Visitors to Davenport's Putnam Museum & Science Center can learn all about the birds and the bees – and the butterflies, and the moths – in the venue's latest Pollinators' Palooza, a May 14 event dedicated to nature's springtime pollinators that will boast presentations, a film screening, and arts and crafts for children.

Presented by the Illinois State University's Scott County Extension Master Gardeners, the Pollinators' Palooza begins at 10 a.m. with youth activities, stations for community exhibitors, and a Scott County Master Gardener horticulture clinic. At 10:15 a.m., Putnam visitors are invited to learn all about native plants and the pollinators that love them in “Native Plants and Why They Matter,” a program by Gina Haddock, who is one of the founders of the Wild Ones of the Quad Cities and is an enthusiastic believer in the importance of native plants. Haddock's program will be followed by the 11:15 a.m, presentation “Climate Change and Pollinators,” in which guests are invited to discover why our climate is changing and what impact that change might have on pollinators in the future. The presentation will be delivered by Ray Wolf, a Lifetime Iowa Master Gardener who is also a meteorologist, climatologist, and science and operations officer with the NOAA/National Weather Service.

At 12:15 p.m., attendees of the 2022 Pollinators' Palooza can take a trip with a Ruby hummingbird from Iowa to Central America in "The Ruby-throated Hummingbird: A Tiny Dynamo," in which participants can learn about the bird's unique characteristics, mating habits, and preferred habitation, and also learn how to attract them to their gardens. The presentation will be delivered by Beverly Broughton, a very active Iowa Master Gardener who has engaged in nature-themed projects such as ISU's Hort Clinic, Extension Gardens, and Plant Sale. And closing the day's events at 1:45 p.m. will be a Giant Screen showing of the nature documentary Flight of the Butterflies 3D, a film that inspired the River Cities' Reader to rave that "the slow, unspeakably beautiful explosion that is the butterflies' mass exodus is enough to make you believe in God – or, at the very least, in the gods of nature docs."

Admission to the May 14 Pollinators' Palooza is free with $8-9 venue admission, with viewing of Flight of the Butterflies 3D an additional $5 for adults and free for children. The event will be preceded by a 9 a.m. plant sale outside the venue that will conclude at 2 p.m., and for more information, call (563)324-1933 and visit Putnam.org.