SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – As the Capital Region bursts into bloom, Sustainable Saratoga invites the community to give back to the bees, butterflies, and birds that keep our ecosystem humming. The annual Pollinator Palooza Native Plant Sale returns on Saturday, May 30, 2026, offering gardeners of all skill levels the chance to bring home locally-grown treasures that do more than just look beautiful.

From 10 am to 3 pm at Oligny’s Country Gardens in Gansevoort, the greenhouse will be overflowing with over 30 varieties of native perennials—from the vibrant Cardinal Flower to the whimsically named Obedient Plant. Each plant has been lovingly raised by Sustainable Saratoga volunteers specifically for their hardiness in local conditions and their ability to provide vital habitat for native pollinators. 

“Your yard has an important role to play in protecting the natural world,” says Dianna Goodwin, Chair of the Pollinator and Native Plant committee. “Pollinator Palooza is about more than just buying flowers; it’s about meeting neighbors, learning from experts, and taking a small but powerful step toward a more sustainable future.”

A Family-Friendly Celebration of Nature: Pollinator Palooza is a full day of community and conservation, featuring:

• The Main Event: Over 30 varieties of native plants for sale at just $10 per 2-quart pot (cash or check preferred).
• Expert Advice: Meet with Master Gardeners from Cornell Cooperative Extension and representatives from local conservation groups like the Southern Adirondack Audubon Society and Wild Ones.
• Free Soil Testing: Bring about 1/4 cup of dry soil for free pH testing by Cornell Cooperative Extension to ensure your new plants thrive.
• Kids’ Activities: Engaging ways for the next generation of environmental stewards to learn about the magic of pollinators.
• Food for sale by The Galway Local
• Give the gift of a green thumb! Pollinator Palooza E-Gift Cards are now available online, perfect for as a gift or a treat for yourself.

Event Details:

• When: Saturday, May 30, 2026, 10 am – 3 pm (Rain Date: May 31)
• Where: Oligny’s Country Gardens, 390 Wilton Gansevoort Road, Gansevoort, NY
• Parking: Across the street at 393 Wilton-Gansevoort Road.
• Pro-Tip: Bring your own wagon for easy shopping! Please note that while we love animals, this is a “no pets” event.

Whether you have a sprawling meadow or a single sunny porch pot, come find the perfect native plant to help our local pollinators flourish. For a full downloadable plant list and more information, visit https://sustainablesaratoga.org/projects/pollinators-and-native-plants/pollinator-palooza-native-plant-sale/

ABOUT SUSTAINABLE SARATOGA

Sustainable Saratoga is a not-for-profit organization that promotes sustainable practices and the protection of natural resources, through education, advocacy and action, for the benefit of current and future generations in the Saratoga Springs area. Since 2008, Sustainable Saratoga has been a leader in promoting awareness of environmental issues and what we as a local community can do to minimize our ecological impact while maintaining a high quality of life.

 

Video produced by David Washburn and Kelsey Trudell

Sustainable Saratoga is delighted that so many people turned out for the Third Annual Pollinator Palooza at Oligny’s Country Gardens on June 1, 2024. We are proud to announce that over 2,000 native pollinator plants were purchased and found their way into the hands and gardens of Capital District and North Country residents. This is terrific support for pollinators and Sustainable Saratoga! Thank you!

The Palooza’s success was owed to the volunteerism and generosity of many individuals including the Oligny family and Sustainable Saratoga’s Pollinator and Native Plant Committee. Here is our recognition of the people who made it happen…we apologize if we missed anyone…please let us know if we did!

Our Hosts

Thank you first and foremost to Brian and Debbie Oligny of Oligny’s Country Gardens for letting us use their greenhouse to grow our plants and then letting us host the Palooza on their beautiful property in Gansevoort. They have been steadfast supporters of this event from the moment we suggested it more than three years ago. We could not hold the Palooza without them and thank them for their warmth, advice, and good-natured tolerance of people trooping in and out of their greenhouse for months.

Thank you to the Olignys’ neighbor, Jeff Mancini, for letting us use his property as a parking lot for the second year in a row. We really appreciate the ability to handle crowds safely because of his generosity. If you came to the first Palooza, you know how important the parking lot is to the event.

The Palooza Planning Team

A huge thank you to Christine Burghart, who is the founder of Palooza and its chief cook and bottlewasher. She conceived of the event, named it and made it happen. Without her, we would just be handing out seed packets at the farmer’s market instead of supplying the region with thousands of native perennial flowers.

The Team: Christine Burghart, Johanna Garrison, Dianna Goodwin, Jennifer Michelle, Tina O’Hanlon, Wendy Mahaney, Paul Murphy, Caroline Rothaug and Kelsey Trudell. It took a lot of time and effort to pull it off again, and we did it!

Johanna Garrison and Wendy Mahaney. Along with Chris, they are the brains behind the event. The three of them work hard to choose the plants, provide information on them, pot them up and staff the greenhouse.

The potting crew who carefully potted up all our seedlings: Lori Bishop, Christine Burghart, Nora Cheek, Kathryn Edwards, Johanna Garrison, Dianna Goodwin, Shelley Hachenski, Julie Holmberg, Bethany Khan and Natalie, Wendy Mahaney, Jennifer Michelle, Alexandra Morgan, Tina O’hanlon, Caroline Rothaug, Mary Jo Salomon, Susan Taylor, Karen Totino, Maria Trabka, and Kelsey Trudell.

The greenhouse volunteers who watered and cared for our plants daily for nearly two months: Chris Burghart, Dianna Goodwin, Caroline Rothaug and Kelsey Trudell.

Thank you to Candice Bergmann for making our social media look so good. And to Beth Plummer, Sustainable Saratoga’s Media Coordinator, for help with getting the word out. And to Jodi Visconti and the Saratoga Springs High School Graphic Design and Printing Club for our beautiful new banners.

Our generous donors

Kudos to Jennifer Michelle for soliciting an amazing array of donations for the raffle for the third year in a row, and to Jennifer, Kate Edwards, and Maja Mahaney for selling the raffle tickets and minding the table. Congratulations to all the winners!

Thank you to the businesses and individuals who donated items for our raffle: 9 Miles East Farm, American Beauties Native Plants, Balet Flowers and Design, Booth’s Blend Compost, Chris’ Garden Glass, Dawn’s Wild Things Rescue Nursery, Eastern Mountain Sports, Kayak Shak,Roosevelt Baths and Spa, Saratoga Olive Oil Company, and Saratoga Quality Hardware.

A special thanks to Martha Johnson at Slack Hollow Farm for planting and growing out the milkweed seedlings we gave away at the Sustainable Saratoga table. Thank you to Janet Britt for helping plant the fly-away milkweed seeds.

Food for mind and body

Click the arrows to scroll through the photos

We truly appreciate the participating organizations and their tables filled with information and demonstrations to educate us on land preservation and the importance of native plants to our birds and pollinators: Capital Region PRISM, City of Saratoga Springs Participatory Budgeting, Cornell Cooperative Extension Saratoga County Master Gardeners, Grassland Bird Trust,Merck Forest and Farmland Center, North Shore Animal League, Saratoga PLAN, SoBro conservancy of Saratoga, Southern ADK Audubon Society, Wild Ones Capital Region, and Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park.

Thank you again to the food and beverage truck vendors who provided sustenance to the hungry crowds:  Coach’s Corner and Sustainable Eats.

An enthusiastic round of applause to the Saratoga Springs High School Fiddle Club who entertained us all. Come back again next year!

Our incredible volunteers

Thank you to our Palooza volunteers who prepared for the day, set up the event, directed traffic, staffed the tables, answered questions in the greenhouse, cashiered, kept things flowing, and cleaned up at the end. In alphabetical order they are: Braelyn Bourgeois, Michael Cohen, Alex Couture, Serene Couture, Leanne Donelan, Amy Durland, Kate Edwards, Anne Ernst, Susan Fairchild, Laura Faulk, Dianna Goodwin, Barbara Lasher, Elaine McArdle, Tom McNamara, Dave McKeighan, Shannon McKeighan, Jennifer Michelle, Alexandra Morgan, Paul Murphy, Tina O’Hanlon, Maja Smemo, Mathew Smith, Judy Staubo, Chuck Tirone, Maria Trabka, Ben Trudell, and Jody Visconti.

And YOU!

And, finally, a big thank you to all the gardeners who gave new homes to the plants we grew. Expand your garden beds and come back next year! Consider volunteering! We need you!

Read More

Get more info on our Pollinators and Native Plants pages

See the details of the most recent Pollinator Palooza, including plant lists and photos

Blossoming Where We’re Planted

How Gardening Builds Community, Nurturing Ourselves and the Environment

Guest post by Bethany Bowyer Khan

This post is a call to action to garden for gardeners and non-gardeners alike, but is also a call to connect with ourselves and our local community. I hope reading this provides an opportunity to step back and consider how supporting our local ecosystem through planting, particularly native perennials, fosters a better sense of self, connects us with not just the bee buddies in our gardens, but also builds lasting relationships with one another.

The title of this post is a bit of a play on words with the well-known saying “grow where you are planted”. In one sense, it occurred to me that these words apply themselves literally to the concept of supporting the growth of native species that have been self-sowing for thousands of years on the grounds that we call home today. In another sense, growing where one is planted can refer to growing as a community, and also growing as an individual within that community. I have always felt frustrated with this quote in that I questioned whether where I was “planted” was in fact the right place for me to grow.

My husband and I were lucky to begin calling Saratoga Springs our home two years ago when we moved up from Brooklyn, New York. Knowing few people in the area, and having an 18 month-old daughter, I felt a calling to connect with my community more intentionally than I had ever contemplated. Connecting with others was important to not only my personal well-being, but for building connections with my whole family. And looking back two years, it’s incredible that so many of the most rewarding relationships that we’ve made have unintentionally been through connecting with the earth and our gardens.

Gardeners each have our own reasons for growing. In many cases as I have found, those reasons are often personal and more significant than we usually slow down to contemplate. In this way, I encourage friends to get their hands in the dirt because I’ve always found it so therapeutic and fulfilling. Regardless of why we initially make our way into working the soil, once we’re there I’ve found that often leads to only positive outcomes. And by sharing my interests and experiences with others, I’ve learned that what I have received in return has been quite a gift.

Since moving here, we have had friends reach out with extra plants that they’ve offered to transfer to our gardens. We’ve offered up our own rhubarb annually through my Instagram account to give away to anyone interested – and have met new neighbors as a result! Our neighbors down the road have offered their peaches and vegetables from their kitchen gardens. We’ve even pureed this local food that nourished my son when he began eating solids last summer. We have had friends offer their lilacs and hydrangeas to create locally-sourced floral designs in our home. I have even had a cold call message from someone on Instagram who offered dahlia tubers, shared her tips on planting when I picked them up, and then offered gorgeous cuts of her peonies while I was there. I’ve been to networking events where we’ve foraged for clippings from someone’s gardens and created bouquets from her hard work while talking business. This generosity sticks with me. And I feel like I’ve tapped into something worth nurturing. It’s about the plants and the ecosystems, yes, but it’s also about the people.

I’ve enjoyed leveraging these connections, and sharing what I have and what I know with others. About a month ago I brought my daughter, who is now three years old, with me to help prepare for Sustainable Saratoga’s wildly successful annual native plant sale. It was her first official day of volunteering, and she certainly held her own by watering the plants, and playing with a golden retriever she met while I did my best to contribute. There was a moment for me that day while the group of women there were quietly planting and buzzing through work stations each carrying on various conversations that I realized how good it felt to just be present. It didn’t matter what we were planting or discussing, but just being there – acknowledging that organic community – was a tremendous gift. And it helped make this place feel like home.

Since moving here, I’ve partnered with the National Wildlife Federation’s Garden for Wildlife program (an incredible resource) through my Instagram account, Arcadian Revival, and have encouraged folks to plant native species. The feedback from non-gardeners and gardeners who have not thought much about native plants has been tremendous. I love an opportunity to use my platform to have a positive impact. But outside of the digital world, as an individual, it is these connections that remain the most rewarding.

I hope that those reading these words who do not garden, consider giving it a try. I can attest from first-hand experience that the quiet time in our garden is one where I have some of my best ideas surface, a place where I’ve turned to in times of joy and sorrow. And so when I connect with fellow gardeners, other artists if you will, I like to imagine the unspoken ways that we’re connecting with one another by just being together and sharing a tip or two.

The kindness, generosity, sharing of knowledge, and sharing of plants themselves has been one of the most meaningful and authentic ways that we’ve felt welcomed to this community. And I aspire to give back and to share with others all that I feel lucky to have discovered myself.

And if you are a gardener, I hope you’ve been able to tap into the amazing folks in the area who have a shared passion for gardening. And I wonder, have you imagined new ways of sharing your experience growing with others? Of connecting through events or of opening dialogs that lead to new conversations and ideas? I feel that making these connections is not only self-nurturing, but is necessary for strengthening our gardening community and thus our ecosystems in return.

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If Bethany’s post has inspired you to start your own garden, we have a great primer on starting a native pollinator garden from scratch

See our Pollinator pages for more information, plant recommendations, and resources