Roger’s Gardens Supports Local Audubon Society with Over $20,000 in Donations


	Roger’s Gardens has long maintained relationships with several local non-profit conservation organizations, such as the CA Native Plant Society, the Surfrider Foundation, OC Coastkeeper and others. So, when we launched our Hummingbird Summer campaign on June 18 we decided to ramp it up a level. The goals of the Hummingbird Summer campaign were to encourage local gardeners to support wildlife and biodiversity in their gardens, particularly hummingbirds. Extensive educational resources were developed, including information about the best plants, proper hummingbird nutrition and the identification of our local species. Most importantly, we provided ways that our community could make their urban gardens even more attractive to hummingbirds, pollinators, butterflies and other wildlife. For this effort we partnered with our friends at Sea & Sage Audubon, our local Orange County Chapter of the well-known National Audubon Society. While we added finishing touches to our large bird and butterfly garden, built our website resources, assembled a large array of nectar producing plants, filmed videos, launched Livestreams, wrote blogs and talked with the thousands of visitors. Our Audubon friends provided even more expertise with excellent literature, hummingbird photography and a valuable visit to the nursery with volunteers and a large display table to talk with our guests. Meanwhile, our hundreds of hummingbird plants and feeders attracted a vibrant flock of hummingbirds to the nursery, to entertain and encourage our visitors.

	One novel idea we had was to test a “Round-Up For Audubon” option at checkout. Although now popular with some other retailers, we had never considered one before. But we felt that simply asking our shoppers for a donation was a bit hypocritical; after all our guests can make their own donation at any time, why do they need to do it at Roger’s Gardens? Quickly, our President and owner, Gavin Herbert, Jr., stepped up and offered additional matching funds, to compliment any “round-up’s” from our guests. We didn’t know what to expect, but we launched *Hummingbird Summer* on June 18, 2021. The round-up idea was an immediate hit, and by the conclusion of the Hummingbird Summer campaign on Sept. 26 we had raised $7,559 in donations for Sea & Sage Audubon, which they will use toward local wildlife conservation and educational efforts. Roger’s Gardens is proud to lead the community in ways to create sustainable gardens and healthy habitats. Related campaigns and commitments that we are leading include our well-known Milkweeds for Monarchs effort, our Plants-Not-Plastics nursery container re-use program and our California Friendly Garden Contest. This year, we are celebrating our twelfth anniversary of chemical-free, organic-only pest controls and nutrition, and our continuing commitment to eliminating invasive plants in the nursery industry. Gardens can be beautiful and can support a healthy environment at the same time. Please join us.




	Roger’s Gardens presents a donation from its guests, along with matching funds, of $7,559 to Sea & Sage Audubon President Gail Richards and Director of Education, Trude Hurd.


	The permanent Bird and Butterfly display garden at Roger’s Gardens		Roger's Gardens staff visit the San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh, home of Sea & Sage Audubon


Roger’s Gardens has long maintained relationships with several local non-profit conservation organizations, such as the CA Native Plant Society, the Surfrider Foundation, OC Coastkeeper and others. So, when we launched our Hummingbird Summer campaign on June 18 we decided to ramp it up a level. The goals of the Hummingbird Summer campaign were to encourage local gardeners to support wildlife and biodiversity in their gardens, particularly hummingbirds. Extensive educational resources were developed, including information about the best plants, proper hummingbird nutrition and the identification of our local species. Most importantly, we provided ways that our community could make their urban gardens even more attractive to hummingbirds, pollinators, butterflies and other wildlife. For this effort we partnered with our friends at Sea & Sage Audubon, our local Orange County Chapter of the well-known National Audubon Society. While we added finishing touches to our large bird and butterfly garden, built our website resources, assembled a large array of nectar producing plants, filmed videos, launched Livestreams, wrote blogs and talked with the thousands of visitors. Our Audubon friends provided even more expertise with excellent literature, hummingbird photography and a valuable visit to the nursery with volunteers and a large display table to talk with our guests. Meanwhile, our hundreds of hummingbird plants and feeders attracted a vibrant flock of hummingbirds to the nursery, to entertain and encourage our visitors.

One novel idea we had was to test a “Round-Up For Audubon” option at checkout. Although now popular with some other retailers, we had never considered one before. But we felt that simply asking our shoppers for a donation was a bit hypocritical; after all our guests can make their own donation at any time, why do they need to do it at Roger’s Gardens? Quickly, our President and owner, Gavin Herbert, Jr., stepped up and offered additional matching funds, to compliment any “round-up’s” from our guests. We didn’t know what to expect, but we launched *Hummingbird Summer* on June 18, 2021. The round-up idea was an immediate hit, and by the conclusion of the Hummingbird Summer campaign on Sept. 26 we had raised $7,559 in donations for Sea & Sage Audubon, which they will use toward local wildlife conservation and educational efforts. Roger’s Gardens is proud to lead the community in ways to create sustainable gardens and healthy habitats. Related campaigns and commitments that we are leading include our well-known Milkweeds for Monarchs effort, our Plants-Not-Plastics nursery container re-use program and our California Friendly Garden Contest. This year, we are celebrating our twelfth anniversary of chemical-free, organic-only pest controls and nutrition, and our continuing commitment to eliminating invasive plants in the nursery industry. Gardens can be beautiful and can support a healthy environment at the same time. Please join us.

Roger’s Gardens presents a donation from its guests, along with matching funds, of $7,559 to Sea & Sage Audubon President Gail Richards and Director of Education, Trude Hurd.

The permanent Bird and Butterfly display garden at Roger’s Gardens

Roger's Gardens staff visit the San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh, home of Sea & Sage Audubon