Next spring, bolster the bees around your neighborhood by offering them a friendly perch – a pollinator garden. Given the drastic, terrifying decline in honeybee populations around the world, they need all the help they can get, including yours. Looking for guidance? On Friday morning, Master Gardener and beekeeper Jean Vose will give a talk on how to create a pollinator friendly garden, as well as which seeds you should buy, at Spectrum Generations Coastal Community Center in Damariscotta.

After the workshop, the center will hold a seed exchange, one day before National Seed Swap Day. Gardeners who have seeds saved or left over from last year are encouraged to bring them to share.

“The seed swap is a fundamental part of human history,” a press release about the event says. “Seeds were one of the first commodities valued and traded. Today, modern gardeners collect and exchange seeds for many reasons ranging from cultivating rare, heirloom varieties to basic thrift. The exchange of seeds perpetuates biodiversity. It is an act of giving and the ultimate form of recycling.”

Create a

Pollinator Garden and Seed Swap, Master Gardener and beekeeper Jean Vose will discuss how to plant a pollinator-friendly garden. $5. Followed by seed swap for gardeners from beginner to expert, free. Spectrum Generations Coastal Community Center, 521 Maine St., Damariscotta. mpinkham@spectrumgenerations.org. Talk at 10 a.m., seed swap at 11:30 a.m. Friday.