New Berlin Public Library Giving Away Gardening Seed Packets

NEW BERLIN, WI — The New Berlin Public Library will be one of 70 libraries across Wisconsin giving away seed packets for pollinator-plants.

Libraries in Brown, Dane, Jefferson, Milwaukee and Waukesha counties will give away packets of blue aster and butterfly weed seed packets through the American Transmission Company's Grow Smart program.

These plants are low-growing so they don't interrupt transmission lines. They also invite pollinators like bees, birds and butterflies into residents' backyards.

Gardening increased last year in record numbers due to the COVID-19 pandemic and 86 percent of homeowners plan to continue gardening in 2021, according to an ATC statement.

Seed packets are usually given away at lawn and garden shows, ATC communications director Greg Levesque said. But many of these events were cancelled due to the pandemic, and now ATC's remaining inventory has been given to public library systems to improve pollinator habitat in employees' communities.

Here are some nearby public libraries giving away seed packets:

• New Berlin Public Library at 15105 W. Library Lane, New Berlin, WI 53151
• Waukesha Public Library at 321 Wisconsin Ave, Waukesha, WI 53186
• Elm Grove Public Library at 13600 Juneau Boulevard, Elm Grove, WI 53122
• Hales Corners Public Library at 5885 S. 116th St., Hales Corners, WI 53130