Transcript Backyard Gardening for Pollinators

Backyard Gardening
For Pollinators
What Do Pollinators Need?
• Food
• Shelter
• Protection From Pesticides
Food
Providing Pollen and Nectar
• Nectar – energy and amino acids
• Pollen – protein
Providing Pollen and Nectar
Goals:
• Use a wide variety of plants
• Provide diversity in flower size, shape, structure
• Provide continuous bloom early spring through late fall
• Provide butterfly host plants
Variety in Flower Structure
Flower Variety in Size, Shape, Color
Flower Types Attractive to Pollinators
Our Concept of ‘Weeds’
Noxious Weeds
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Shatter cane (Sorghum bicolor).
Russian thistle (Salsola Kali var. tenuifolia).
Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense L. (Pers.)).
Wild parsnip ( Pastinaca sativa).
Wild carrot (Queen Annes lace) (Daucus carota L.).
Oxeye daisy (Chrysanthermum leucanthemum var. pinnatifidum).
Wild mustard (Brassica kaber var. pinnatifida).
Grapevines: when growing in groups of one hundred or more and not pruned, sprayed, cultivated,
or otherwise maintained for two consecutive years.
Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense L. (Scop.)).
Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum).
Cressleaf groundsel (Senecio glabellus).
Musk thistle (Carduus nutans).
Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria).
Mile-A-Minute Weed (Polygonum perfoliatum).
Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum).
Apple of Peru (Nicandra physalodes).
Marestail (Conyza canadensis)
Kochia (Bassia scoparia).
Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri).
Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata)
Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum)
Invasives
Variety in Bloom Time
What About Wintertime?
• Leave plants with fruits and seeds standing
Butterfly Host Plants
Black Swallowtail
Parsley, carrot, celery, dill
American Painted Lady
Pearly everlasting
Spice Bush Swallowtail Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Spicebush, sassafras
Viceroy
Willow, poplars, black cherry
Black cherry, ash, tulip tree, spicebush
Monarch
Milkweed
Butterfly Host Plants
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Flowers:
Aster (Aster spp.)
Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea)
False Nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica)
Hollyhock (Alcea rosea)
Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja spp.)
Mallow (Malva spp.)
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)
Pussy-toe (Antennaria plantaginifolia)
Rue (Ruta graveolens)
Ruellia (Ruellia spp.)
Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum spp.)
Silver Brocade (Artemisia stellariana)
Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)
Spider flower (Cleome hasslerana)
Sunflower (Helianthus spp.)
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Swamp Verbena (Verbena hastata)
Tall Verbena (Verbena bonariensis)
Violet (Viola spp. )
Water Dock (Rumex verticillatus)
Wild Senna (Senna hebecarpa)
Woodland Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum)
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Vines:
Passion Flowers (Passiflora spp.)
Pipevine (Aristolochia macrophylla
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Herbs:
Dill (Antheum graveolens)
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
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Grasses:
Little Bluestem Grass (Schizachyrium scoparium)
Orchard Grass (Dactylis glomerata )
Panic Grass (Panicum spp.)
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Shrubs:
Coontie (Zamia pumila)
False Indigo (Baptisia australis)
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin )
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Trees:
Aspen Tree (Populus spp.)
Common HopTree (Ptelea trifoliata)
Elm Tree (Ulmus spp. )
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus)
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum americanum)
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
Sweet Bay (Magnolia virginiana)
Willow (Salix)
Natives
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Adapted to our climate
Tolerate poor conditions
Low maintenance
Beneficial for native pollinators
Other Considerations
• Spread elements throughout yard
• Plant in groups
• Avoid modern hybrid flowers, especially those with "doubled"
flowers.
• Night-blooming flowers will support moths and bats.
Getting Started
Where to Get Plants
• Native plant nurseries
• Native seed companies
• Local native plant sales
• Cox Arboretum
• Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm
• Marianist Environmental Education Center
Shelter
Shelter
• Protection from severe weather and predators
• Sites for nesting
• Solitary bees make small tunnels in the ground or use beetle
tunnels in trees
• Social bumble bees use small cavities, like rodent burrows
Nest Sites
Water
Water Features
• Pools, ponds, small containers
• Should be shallow or have sloping sides
Protection From
Pesticides
Protection From Pesticides
• Insecticides are dangerous to bee and butterfly species
• Herbicides kill potential food sources
Integrated Pest Management
Attracting Beneficial Insects
• Beneficial insects, many of which are also pollinators, help
destroy harmful insects
• Attract them by:
• Planting flowering plants surrounding your garden (nectar and
pollen will attract beneficials)
• Plant ‘insectary plants’ which attract and sustain beneficial
insects
Insectary Plants
• Sweet alyssum (white variety)
• It belongs to the mustard family. Flowering period is long (several months).
Natural enemies attracted include minute pirate bug, lacewings and ladybugs
(predators) as well as small parasitic wasps that can attack aphids and other
small insects.
• Buckwheat
• It is very attractive to honeybees, hover flies, soldier beetles, parasitic wasps
and parasitic flies. Plus, predatory insects including assassin bugs, shield bugs,
and predatory stink bugs.
• Fennel
• This plant attracts many ladybeetles, wasps, and hover flies. Fennel is also a
host plant for the caterpillars of the anise swallowtail butterfly.
• Sunflower
• This plant can attract predatory insects such as big-eyed bugs, wasps, lady
beetles and predatory bugs.
• Mustard
• It is very attractive to lacewings, ladybeetles, and parasitic wasps that attack
aphids and other small-sized insects.
When Using Insecticides
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Choose selective insecticides when possible
Read labels carefully
Apply according to label instructions
Apply at night when pollinators are less active
Other
Considerations
Other Considerations
• ‘Salt lick’ – Sea salt on the ground or mixed with water
• A place to rest, such as rocks
• Windbreaks
Questions?