pollinator
POW We rely on the hard work of pollinators every day for food, flowers, fabric, medicine, and more. Yet they need our help! Sadly, habitat loss, pesti-
cide use and loss of native vegetation are diminishing their numbers rapidly. Everything in nature is connected. If one part is out of balance, the effects can be far-reaching. If we all work together to make small changes in our own backyards, it will have a big impact and restore the balance we need to have a healthy ecosystem.
Mom’s (Mother Nature’s) Favorites
Noble Natives
As more and more people make a conscious effort to lighten their ecological footprint, the more popular native plants become. Native plants are already adapted to soil, climate and rainfall amounts and don’t need excessive amounts of fertilizers or pesticides to grow and thrive.
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Native Woody Plants for Pollinators: Oaks
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Native Perennials for Pollinators: Goldenrod
(Quercus), Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), sweetspire (Itea), summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), blueberry, and maple (Acer). (Solidago), Aster, perennial sunflowers, Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum), black-eyed Susan, Coneflowers (echinacea) and many varieties of ornamental grasses.
Pollinators can find pollen and nectar on a wide variety of plants including non-native plants. However, native plants offer special services that non-natives don’t. Their benefits to the environment are enormous. That is not to say you shouldn’t plant lilacs, peonies or whatever else makes you smile. Plant some for nature and some for your soul.
There are so many more worthy choices. Let our expert staff help you select the best and look for special savings on our ‘Pollinator Palette’ collection every month.
The Hungry Caterpillar
Green Mulch
Milkweed (Asclepias), once commonly found in ditches and fields, has a sticky sap that is toxic to most animals. Monarchs have become immune to the toxins over the millennia and by doing so have become somewhat toxic themselves and less tasty to birds and other predators. The relationship is so interconnected that the only thing monarch caterpillars can eat is milkweed. Monarch butterflies will only lay their eggs on milkweed plants so the hungry caterpillars can eat and grow. That makes milkweed a “host plant” for monarchs. No milkweed plants, no more monarch butterflies.
While we commonly think of flowering shrubs and perennials as great choices for pollinators, there is one group that doesn’t get enough attention – native groundcovers!
8 inspirations SPRING/SUMMER 2020
Native groundcovers have become more and more popular with home gardeners in recent years. Whether you are reducing the size of your lawn in favor of low-growing plants that provide benefit to wildlife and pollinators or simply choosing to fill in garden borders with low maintenance plantings, groundcovers are a green and easy solution. Furthermore, expanses of mulch covered beds are like deserts to pollinators - with little to no food or shelter.
