Why Pollinators?
Most gardeners know that pollinating insects, birds, bats and other creatures have been on the decline for many years. This is a concerning problem because pollinators are vital to healthy ecosystems and our way of life. It's estimated more than one-third of the food we eat and 90% of the flowers blooming are dependent on pollinator activity.
While the Monarch butterfly and honey bee get most of the press attention, there are many other lesser noticed insects and creatures that pollinate plants. Bumble bees, mason bees, orchard bees, and squash bees are just some of the other native bees that pollinate flowers. Flies, such as hover flies, are also important pollinators. Hummingbirds, beetles and even bats will pollinate certain plants as well. So, protecting pollinators goes beyond honey bees and butterflies. Luckily, there are ways home gardeners can help.
What Pollinators Need?
Flowers are certainly important as pollinator food, but before I dive into those, let's talk about nesting, water and shelter for our pollinator friends.
Nesting sites are critical to pollinators. Many pollinators don't form hives like honey bees. In fact, some of the best pollinators, such as mason bees, are solitary insects that nest in pieces of wood or in the ground. That's why it's important to check the identity of your bees or flies coming out of the ground before reaching for the spray can. Leaving meadows or little mowed areas, brush piles, stumps, downed branches and logs in your landscape help create some of the nesting sites and shelter pollinators need. Also, a mix of deciduous and evergreen shrubs and trees in an island is a great place for pollinators to hide while flying and feeding.
Water is critical to pollinators as well, especially in hot dry areas and areas experiencing drought. Having a bird bath or small pond on your property helps provide a water source. Even creating mud puddles helps. If you have clay soil, simply wet the soil in a protected low area periodically to create a mud puddle and leave it. You'll find butterflies and insects will gather on sunny days to drink the water and get the added benefit of the minerals in the soil. And, of course, limit the use of pesticides in your landscape to protect pollinators.
The Right Plants
Ultimately, it's having the right plants in your landscape that will make a huge difference to the survival of pollinators. These include wild and cultivated plants. Some of the best pollen plants in spring, when pollinators are just emerging and are hungry, are plants we consider weeds. Dandelion, for example, is a great pollinator plant because of the abundance of flowers blooming in groups. Allowing white clover in lawns to flower by mowing higher offers good pollen and nectar for pollinators. In summer, "weeds", such as milkweed and goldenrod, are important food sources for a variety of insects.
We can help pollinators by changing our gardening practices and growing pollinator friendly plants. Let's start with trees and shrubs. Most gardeners don't think of these are good pollinator plants, but native trees and shrubs are important. In my New England area, willows, black cherry, oaks, serviceberry, elderberries and dogwoods are important plants for insects, birds and beetles. While it's okay to have some exotic plants in your gardens, native plants are a better food source than exotic plants for pollinators.
The Best Flowers
Gardeners love flowers and so do pollinators. The first rule when flower gardening for pollinators is to select pollinating plants that bloom at different times. Having something blooming from early spring until fall is essential. Start with primulas and spring flowering bulbs and keep the show going until asters, verbena and goldenrods are blooming.
The next important aspect is to have some heirloom varieties in your garden. Heirloom or open pollinated annual and perennial flowers have nectar and pollen that pollinators can identify and need. Hybrid flower selections are beautiful but may not help pollinators. Some, such as new echinacea like 'Hot Papaya', have been bred so they don't even resemble the original coneflower. Insects looking for food won't recognize this plant. Others, such as the 'Senorita Rosalita' cleome, have sterile seed and are not a good pollen source for insects. You can plant beautiful hybrids, just include some heirlooms for the bees and butterflies, too.
Plant your flowers in groups so they are easier to find for pollinators and remember specialty plants, such as butterfly weed (Ascelpias), are a food source for certain butterflies. Check local resources of lists of native flowers in your area.
It's not just what we plant, but how we garden that can help. In fall, cut back the foliage of the annuals and perennials, but leave the plants in the garden. The method of chopping and dropping the foliage provides areas for pollinators to overwinter. Of course, if you had heavily diseased plants, you should remove them. In early spring wait until you've had at least 4 to 5 days of 50F temperatures before you clean up the garden. Pollinating insects that did overwinter need time wake up in spring and move out of their winter homes around your plants and under leaves in the garden. In the vegetable garden, let some vegetables go to seed. We often let Florence fennel go to seed because it produces beautiful yellow umbels of flowers in late summer that the insects love.
Just by being a little more conscious of your plants choices, making sure you have something in bloom, especially early and late in the year and adjusting our gardening practices, we can create the habitat and food sources, no matter how small the yard, that is essential for pollinators.
Charlie Nardozzi is an award winning, nationally recognized garden writer, speaker, radio, and television personality. He has worked for more than 30 years bringing expert gardening information to home gardeners through radio, television, talks, tours, on-line, and the printed page. Charlie delights in making gardening information simple, easy, fun and accessible to everyone. He's the author of 6 books, has three radio shows in New England and a TV show. He leads Garden Tours around the world and consults with organizations and companies about gardening programs. See more about him at Gardening With Charlie.
