Celebrations scheduled in Knoxville, Crossville and Jackson on June 24
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee Gardens and the UT Bee Campus Committee, a group comprised of UT faculty, staff and students, in partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority, invite communities across the state to celebrate national Pollinator Week at a series of “Garden Buzz” pollinator events on June 24.
Pollinator Week is an annual celebration in support of pollinator health, initiated and managed by the Pollinator Partnership. This year’s logo features the swallowtail butterfly. Swallowtail butterflies include more than 600 species of large, colorful butterflies belonging to the Papilionidea family. Around 30 species are native to North America. Proficient pollinators, swallowtail butterflies frequent many nectar-rich native plants like milkweed, coneflower and zinnia. These butterflies are beautiful and familiar to many in their adult stage, but their full lifecycle highlights the important relationship between plants and pollinators. Pollinator Week, which this year is June 22-28, is celebrating swallowtail butterflies, their caterpillars, host plants, as well as other pollinators like bees and other butterfly species including the Gulf Fritillary butterfly of the Nymphalidae family.
Similar to previous UT and TVA’s collaborative Garden Buzz celebrations, the 2026 Garden Buzz celebrations will offer participants opportunities to learn more about pollinators in Tennessee through educational activities. Attendees can also learn how to start their own pollinator gardens with locally grown plants that help support a thriving ecosystem.
In 2020, UT Knoxville was recognized as an official Bee Campus. As a Bee Campus, the university is committed to promoting pollinator health and habitat conservation through its landscape management and educational opportunities. Garden Buzz is just one of the many initiatives that UT and the UT Bee Campus Committee has planned to promote pollinator health in the Knoxville, Crossville and Jackson communities.
Jennifer Tsuruda, assistant professor and coordinator of the TN Master Beekeeping Program, says “Garden Buzz” is an example of the great events UT offers across the state through Extension, AgResearch, the Herbert College of Agriculture and other UT Institute of Agriculture programs. “Whether your passion lies in pollinators, plants, or both, these events will help you support pollinators, which themselves help support Tennesseans through pollination of agricultural crops and home gardens, and the production of local honey. We are fortunate in Tennessee to have this supportive partnership with TVA to help increase awareness and plantings across the state,” she says.
Everyone is encouraged to come out and take a tour of the UT Gardens to see pollinators in action. Educational exhibits will be available and there will be a limited supply of pollinator plants for attendees to take home to start their own pollinator garden to support pollinators across the state.
“It’s important for everyone to do their part in supporting habitats for our pollinator friends,” says “TVA Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability’s Senior Environmental Compliance Program Manager Suzanne Fisher. “TVA is proud to be a steward of a variety of pollinator areas in the region and to partner with UT in equipping the public with the resources and knowledge to help advance our shared goals.”
Garden Buzz events will be held in-person at each of the UT Gardens location across the state. The events are free to attend and all will be held on June 24. Details are as follows:
- UT Gardens, Jackson – 12 noon — 1:30 p.m. (CDT)
- UT Gardens, Crossville –12 noon — 2:00 p.m. (CDT)
- UT Gardens, Knoxville – 5:30 — 7 p.m. (EDT)
For directions to the gardens, visit the UT Gardens homepage: utgardens.tennessee.edu. For more information about other UT Bee Campus initiatives and beekeeping programs, please visit tiny.utk.edu/bee-campus and tiny.utk.edu/apiculture.
Learn more about TVA’s efforts to slow and reverse the decline in pollinator populations at TVA.com/pollinators.
To learn more about Pollinator Week and the Pollinator Partnership, please visit pollinator.org. The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is comprised of the Herbert College of Agriculture, UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch and UT Extension. Through its land-grant mission of teaching, research and outreach, the Institute touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. to Tennesseans and beyond. utia.tennessee.edu.