HOW TO PLANT A POLLINATOR

story and photos by Brie Gorecki

Whether you’re into bees or butterflies, starting a garden to attract them is simple! It’s easy and inexpensive and the best part is that it’s also a fun learning experience. Here are a couple tips on how to start your own pollinator garden to get the bees buzzing and how to nurture (and raise!) beautiful butterflies.

STARTING YOUR OWN POLLINATOR GARDEN

Elisha Bixler, @howsyourdayhoney, has some advice to get you going!

This is my favorite! It is where my heart is. I would say native flowers are your best friend and some of our native flowering weeds. This is a very touchy subject because people don’t want the messiness or the messy look of the native flowering weeds. We have a flower, which I’m sure you’ve seen. It’s called Bidens Pilosa or Spanish needle, and it’s this little white daisy, and it is Florida native and is a major nectar and pollen source for all bees, not just honeybees.

For our native bees that we need that are declining so badly, I always tell people to just leave a small patch in your yard untouched and let some of those native weeds grow. It’ll really give you the biggest bang for your buck if you want to see pollinators in your yard.

I think most people assume ‘it’s just a weed, I have to pull it.’ But some of them are actually so beneficial for our native bees. They really need those little flowers to build them through spring.

And if you want to buy a garden, I will say fully support our native nurseries or local nurseries. Sometimes the big box stores are not going to offer beneficial pollinating plants for our bees that are specific to our area, so they’re going to sell more of your commercialized things. Also, they’re going to use systemic pesticides. Because they want the plants to look amazing sitting on their shelves. I like your local nurseries, especially the native local nurseries. They are going to offer you things for our Tampa Bay area and for pollinators.

STARTING YOUR OWN BUTTERFLY GARDEN

It’s spring, which means the flowers are blooming and butterflies are all around! Starting a butterfly garden is a fun learning experience that can get kids comfortable with insects.

Monarch butterflies are extremely common in Florida and easy to raise. They’re attracted to milkweed plants which can be found at any local nursery. Monarchs will lay their eggs directly on the surface of a leaf or a stem. They look like tiny white pearls and will start to turn grey right before they hatch, within 3-6 days. From there, the very hungry caterpillars will immediately begin to eat the milkweed leaves. They’ll continue to eat and will shed their skin 4-5 times over the course of about two weeks. Fun fact: caterpillars grow 100 times their size within that time frame! Once they’re fully grown, they will form their pupa, or chrysalis, which will turn bright green. They’ll stay in there for about two weeks and once they’re ready to emerge, the pupa will begin to turn dark and then transparent. Once they emerge, their wings will look small and crinkly but after a few minutes, they’ll expand into a beautiful butterfly! A few hours later, their wings will be strong, and they’ll be ready to fly away. Although monarchs will only lay their eggs on milkweed, there are a variety of flowers and plants that will attract them, along with other butterflies, to your garden. Black-eyed Susans, bottlebrush, salvia, dill and parsley are great attractors while nectar plants like coral bean, coral honeysuckle and Tampa verbena can help provide nourishment that your newly released butterflies will definitely need! TIPS ON RAISING MONARCHS:

» They’re extremely tiny when they first hatch and may be hard to see.

If you see lots of chewed up holes in the milkweed leaves, you’ll know they’re there! » Lizards and birds may think the caterpillars are tasty treats. You can buy net houses online to put the milkweed plants in and provide a safe place for your caterpillars to grow and form their chrysalis. » How can you tell the difference between a male and female butterfly?

Males have two black dots on the bottom of their wings, while females do not. » They won’t hurt you! Once they’re big enough to pick up, you can hold them gently in your hand and when they become butterflies, they’ll often hop right on to your finger before they fly off.