Planting for Pollinators

All pollinators need plants to survive. You can help by planting a simple patch or pot of flowers. If you live in an apartment, you may be able to plant flowers in window boxes. Even a window box of kitchen herbs or a pot of flowers can help. Although native plants are best, you do not need to plant a wildflower garden to help pollinators. Pollinators, like all living things, need food, water, and shelter for themselves and their babies. Some plants and pollinators have developed special features and special relationships over the millenia. For example, plants with tubular flowers evolved to be pollinated by hummingbirds and other pollinators that can reach into the long tube for nectar. Milkweeds and monarch butterflies evolved together; the milkweed is a host plant for monarch caterpillars. Golden alexander (Zizzia sp.) is a host plant for black swallowtail butterflies, but sometimes the caterpillars will also eat carrots, dill, parsley, and fennel. Sometimes the caterpillars are called parsley worms! Here are some kitchen herbs that pollinators love: anise hysspop, basil, borage, calendula, chives, dill, fennel, hyssop, lemon balm, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, and thyme. Lavender also attracts pollinators. These herbs attract bumblebees, honeybees, small flies, wasps, and some butterflies. Angelica, which I grew for the first time this year, attracts hordes of pollinators. Monarda, or bee balm, attracts bees and hummingbirds. Common flowers attract pollinators, including sunflowers and zinnias. Bumble bees are even known to sleep in sunflowers. Hummingbirds love cana lillies. If you are interested in growing native host plants to help pollinators, here are a few resources to guide you. The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign has developed ecoregional guides for different areas of the United States. Each guide lists pollinator host plants, including trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. Here is a link to the ecoregional guide for Washington, DC and surrounding area. If you live in another part of the country, fear not! Follw this link and type in your zip code to find your ecoregional guide. If you like native plants, but want to make sure that you are growing a plant that fits in your garden and is relatively free from diseases, Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware conducts plant trials for various cultivated varieties (cultivars) of native plants. In each plant trial, Mt. Cuba researchers tested different cultivars for years to see how well each grew. You can check the Mt. Cuba trial results to help select native plants for your garden when you go to the garden center. #Pollinators #pollinatorgardens #Mt.Cuba #NorthAmericanPollinatorProtectionCampaign