The Lehigh County Conservation District, along with volunteers and workers from the City of Allentown, recently converted a small courtyard at Allentown Public Library into a pollinator garden.

"The pollinator garden will attract butterflies, hummingbirds and beneficial insects while providing an environment oasis for city residents," Laura Hopek, watershed specialist with the conservation district.

Hopek said the district, in partnership with the City of Allentown and the library, received funding from the Lehigh Gap Nature Center, Slatington, to install the pollinator garden.

"Local volunteers and the City of Allentown Stormwater Department contributed hours of service to assist the conservation district with the planting," Hopek said.

Lehigh Gap Nature Center Environmental Specialist Kate Brandes spoke with The Press about the garden.

"Lehigh Gap Nature Center is pleased to support this project as part of our landscaping for communities and wildlife program funded by the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation," Brandes said.

Library Director Renee Haines also spoke with The Press about the garden.

"We are thrilled to be part of this project and to have our landscape beautified by so many wonderful native plants," Haines said. "We feel this garden will be a lovely contribution to our neighborhood and we hope to serve as an example of what can be accomplished in a city environment with native plants."

"We also thank the City of Allentown, the Lehigh Gap Nature Center, Edge of the Woods Native Plant Nursery and everyone else who took part in the project," she stated.

Susan Tantsits, co-owner of Edge of the Woods, said they provided all the flowering perennials through the grant program.