When you’re shopping for plants for summer color at local stores – or better yet, local plant sales – please consider taking home some plants for our pollinators. Bees, birds and butterflies are among the pollinators that need our help. Habitat loss as more and more homes, roads, etc. are built: pesticide use and pollution have made life difficult for them.
Even a small garden can help, but plant in swoops or sections of the same flower, rather than a “one of these, one of those” garden design. It seems that our pollinators don’t like to dine alone any more than we do, so pretend that you’re setting tables for a banquet.
I can’t resist the hybrid, frilly, double flowers. However, pollinators prefer simpler blossoms. Have you ever noticed the thin stripes on petals that radiate from the center of some flowers? Those lines are just like the ones our pilots see at airports as they locate and land on the runway. Look for them and you’ll see just how helpful Mother Nature is, guiding her pollinators in for a good meal.
Why should we care? When pollinators feed on nectar and pollen, they provide an essential service that guarantees plant reproduction and genetic diversity. The more diverse plants are, the better they are able to adapt to changes in our environment. Pollinators are responsible for one out of three bites of food that we eat. Be sure to thank them next time one flies by.
“PLANT FOR POLLINATORS!” I can and you should, too!
The Naperville Garden Club will host a Plant Sale 9AM to 4PM Fri. and Sat., May 6 and May 7, 9 S. 031 Chandelle Drive, Naperville (Aero Estates).
From 75th Street, drive South on Book Road. Turn West (right) on 83rd Street, go past the Dog Park and turn North (right) on Chandelle Drive. The Plant Sale is at the end of the street.
