Watch this video on how to create and care for a pollinator garden in your yard with information on caring for plant varieties, habitat, water and shelter.
Learn about the best ways to attract butterflies, bees, birds and other pollinators to your garden.
Attracting Pollinators to Your Garden
Pollinator gardens are hot lots of people are concerned about the birds butterflies ease and even hummingbirds
around the world especially in our changing climate and so a lot of people are growing pollinator garden. They’re
growing them in nurseries and schools and in homes like this one. Now the key with pollinator garden is you have to realize that not all pollinators are created equal. You have little bees all the way up to a big hummingbird so you have to grow a diversity of plant all season long so you have those pollinated taken care of. They need the pollen and they need nectar and they need flowers from spring with the bulbs all the way up to asters in the fall. Now certain pollinators like certain shaped flowers and we’ll start with that so let me show you some of those plants that will be perfect for your pollinator garden.
Different bees and butterflies and hummingbirds are attracted to different shaped flowers and different color flowers. Everyone knows that hummingbirds love the color red so putting some red flowers in your garden is a good idea. They also like those trumpet-shaped flowers too and so do the bumblebees, so having Canterbury bells, for example, so they can get their little bodies up in there. Or Foxgloves are good flowers to have in your garden. Another type of flower to have our cup-shaped flowers, like geraniums and evening primrose, these are good for certain bees they really like to get inside of those flowers. Another type of flower is a flat flower like a yarrow or even in the vegetable garden let some dill and some of the cilantro go to seed. You’ll see butterflies and different bees and wasps going towards those flowers. And finally, daisy shaped flowers like echinacea and Rudbeckia or black-eyed Susans are great flowers to have in your garden.
Now another thing with flowers you have to realize is that the hybrid flowers that you see a lot in garden centers. They really may not be the best kind of flowers for pollinators. You get some that really don’t look like the original flower, for example, we have some beautiful echinacea here. It’s the purple coneflower. Here’s a hybrid version this is a white one called ‘Milkshake’. It’s a beautiful flower and it looks nice in your garden but it may not be as attractive for the pollen that it has for those pollinating insects.
So it’s always best to look for flowers that are like the native species or ones that are heirloom. The reason is we want to have the pollen and nectar for those birds and butterflies and bees to really love. Now it’s not just about flowers. There are other things that birds butterflies and bees are going to need such as water. Now water is really essential and you can have a birdbath in yard or just create a little muddy spot. All you have to do is just water it frequently right on a clay spot and it stays muddy. You’ll see butterflies and bees coming in there all day long to get a little of the minerals and some of the water. Another thing you want to have is some habitat. This could be a fallen tree or a limb in the woods or having some wild areas around your yard that you’re letting wild flowers grow up in. These are places where birds, butterflies and bees can hide. They can build nests and they can have a place that’s a safe haven for them as they come in and out of your garden.
So creating a pollinator garden really involves that right plants, different kinds of plants, water, shelter and habitat. You put all these together you’ll have a beautiful pollinator garden.
Go here for more information on pollinator gardens.
