The beauty and resilience of western Nebraska's native plants will be highlighted next week when Nebraska Wildflower Week kicks off statewide. Nebraska Statewide Arboretum Executive Director Hanna Pinneo explained that Wildflower Week is a celebration of Nebraska's native wildflowers, held every year during the first week of June. The arboretum and many partner organizations will host events across the state from June 1-9 to promote education and awareness efforts, including in the Scottsbluff and Gering area.
Those events help put a spotlight on a part of the ecosystem that often goes unnoticed or unappreciated. "There are a lot of ways to celebrate the beauty of wildflowers in Nebraska," she said. "It's important because they often go unrecognized for the role they play in our ecosystem and in the enjoyment we have in spending time outside in Nebraska.
" Out west specifically, wildflowers play a pivotal role for migrating birds and other animals that pass through on their annual journeys. "Being part of the central flyway, we have a lot of animals that are coming and going, that depend on the prolific wildflower blooms that we can see here," Pinneo said. Wildflowers are also crucial in attracting pollinating insects, like bees, to the area.
Those pollinators provide benefits to crops, gardens and wild spaces around our communities, creating more vibrant and healthy ecosystems. And, Pinneo added, wildflowers are also just fun to look at and appreciate. "We want to make sure t.
