“Pollination powers the planet”

— Unknown

Pollinators and the insect world are our passion at Detroit Abloom. We have learned from observating the hundreds of native plants we grow and from experts as more and more people have become aware of the significance of pollinators.

We want to talk about Pollinator Gardens, a very popular term these days. We will touch on the following topics briefly! You can use this information as a guide in your journey to pollinator gardening.

What exactly is a pollinator garden?
Why are gardens for pollinators important?
Specialists vs Generalist bees
Keystone plants
How to get started
Do’s & Dont’s

What exactly is a pollinator garden?

When you hear the term pollinator garden, many things can come to mind. You may think of attracting bees or butterflies, but there is much more behind the scenes. Here are some terms that best describe a pollinator garden: biodiversity, habitat corridor, ecosystem, pesticide/herbicide free food web, a new type of victory garden, or all of the above.

A Pollinator Garden is planted with plants that have evolved over millions of years developing intricate relationships with pollinators and insects. They know each other very well, because everything in a pollinator garden is interconnected. It all starts with the native plants that draw the bees who perform the bulk of pollination ensuring that the plants continue making seeds. The main business for flowering native plants is to produce seeds, and pollinators ensure this occurs.

A couple of years ago we had an early infestation of aphids in the hoophouse. We let it be and pretty soon many ladybugs that had gonethrough their life cycle emerged and vanquished the aphids.

But there is more! Almost every native flowering plant, grass, shrub and tree species is a host plant for a vairty of moth and butterfly species. Butterflies will lay their eggs on their native host plants which hatch into larvae (caterpillars) and ultimately serve as a crucial food source for native birds. It takes around 6-9,000 protein rich caterpillars for Chickadees to feed one clutch of fledgings. Studies have shown that almost all of our native songbirds rely on caterpillars from native plants to feed their young. Caterpillars are the lifeblood of the inter-related food web in your native plant garden. Non-native plants often lack the chemical compounds needed to support native caterpillars. There are exceptions, of course, such as the Swallowtail Butterfly, which can use the non-native Fennel, Queen Annes Lace, Rue, and Dill as their Host plants.

“Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects
to everything else” ”

— Leonardo da Vinci

The main pollinators in your garden are native bees, honeybees, wasps, flies, beetles, bats and hummingbirds. They all seek pollen and nectar to feed their young. Your pollinator garden should be teeming with pollinators and other insects. Beneficial insects, for example, like ladybeetles, lacewings and soldier beetles eat aphids that feed on liquid in the plants. stems and leaves and ants are also drawn to aphids and the “honeydew” they make. One example of the many interrelated, symbiotic relationshiphe is how the aphids honeydew provides food for the ants who in return “herd” the aphids to the juiciest part of the plant and protect them in other ways. Part of the allure of Pollinator Gardens is learning about and observing these fascinating plant-insect relationships.

Shelter & Protection

This Elderberry shrub in early summer provides edible berries for birds and prime nesting and roosting space.

Why are gardens for pollinators important?

Several years ago, when the gardening world was abuzz about the decline of honeybees, it seems like the iterest in native plants skyrocked. When we started our native plant nursery in 2018 and began researching native plants and their pollinators, we noticed a lack of good, solid information. Native bees had not been studied as well as honeybees. Fortunately, some dedicated professionals have consolidated years of study and 2020 and 2022 saw the respective release of Nature’s Best Hope, by Doug Tallamy and The Insect Crisis by Oliver Milman.

These books teach us about the causes of the major decline in native bees, birds, and insects in general. As a kid I spent summers at Black Lake, MI and distinctly remember having to stop halfway of the 5 1/2-hour trip at either Gaylord or Grayling to wash spattered insects off the windshield. Fast forward to today and when I’ve made that trip, there are hardly any insects on the windshield. That’s because the insect population has declined at least 45% in the last 40 years. Coupled with the insect decline, fifty percent of the Native bees in the mid-west have declined in the last century. The bird situation is just as dire with a 29% decline since 1970. The reasons are clear: pesticides/herbicides, habitat loss of native plants, and climate change is also having a detrimental effects. The experts cited above say part of the solution lies with you and me, in that, if we all create pollinator gardens on our properties, it will make a huge difference. As I drive around our local neighborhood, many residences are either bare of plants or they have beautiful landscapes that are devoid of native plants to attract and feed pollinators.

American Goldfinch at Detroit Abloom
Photo credit - Evan Deutsch

One third of our native wild bees are specialists. This means they evolved along with one or few plant species that they depend on. Their survival depends on the pollen from certain plant species when they emerge from overwintering, usually at the same time that their flower-dependent plant species blooms. You can see the problem here. If we lose the specific plant species, we lose that wild native bee that was dependent on that plant. Take for example the squash bee (the genera of Peponapis and Xenoglossa). If you grow zucchini or other Cucurbita’s you will likely see these small solitary bees in the morning, happily pollinating the bright yellow blooms. Later you will find them asleep in the flower deep pocket. Other bee species pollinate Curcurbitas, but the Squash bee is the most effective. Horticulturist Jarod Fowler has shown that 15 to 60% of our native bees are specialist that only feed on pollen from 40% of native plants.

Generalists, on the other hand, like the bumble bee, visit many different plants for pollen.

Bumblebee generalist, Hypericum perfolatum, St Johns Wort

Keystone Plants

If you want to create a Pollinator Garden, it is important to learn about Keystone plants first. This will help you make good choices, especially if your space is limited! Doug Tallamy’s research shows that 14% of the native plants (keystones) support 90% of moth and butterfly species. And we already know caterpillars are central to a Pollinator Garden. They are called keystone after the central “key” stone in Roman arches. Michigan is part of the Eastern Temperate Forest – Ecoregion 8. The two types of keystone plants are those that feed caterpillars and moths and those that feed specialist bees. The list includes trees, shrubs and flowering perennials. Not surprisingly, Goldenrod and Asters are in the top 5. Goldenrod supports approximately 104 species of butterflies and moths that use it as a host plant. In fact, forty-two specialist bee species rely on the pollen produced from goldenrods.

Solidago speciosa. Showy Goldenrod. Goldenrods are also an essential late season bloomer that provides nectar and pollen for overwintering native bees

The American Wildlife Federation as put together handy lists by region of plants that feed caterpillars and moths and plants that feed specialist bees. A link to that sheet and other resources is found at the end of this blog. Now you can start to understand that your pollinator garden needs native plants from our specific region, not just the U.S. Remember that native plants are plants that have evolved in a specific area. For example, if you choose a plant that is native to the southwest, it is not native to our area and growing conditions. Therefore, it will not have the same pollinator connections.

How to get started

This can be the fun part, but some due diligence is needed first!

Scope out the size of your garden space.
Time the sun as the tree’s leaf out so you can determine if you have places of full sun or areas of shade. Full sun is considered 6 hours of sun or more. This is an important step, and you may be surprised by the results.
What is your soil like. Do you have areas that hold standing water?
Has the area been worked recently or is it weedy? This will give you an idea of how much work will go into planting your pollinator garden.
Is the area already planted with natives or ornamentals?

Once you have figured out these details, you can start to look for plants. We hope you will check out our Native plant store. We have spent years adding information to the plant descriptions as we add new plantings at Detroit Abloom and we are always testing plants in different conditions.

Euyrochium maculatum (Spotted Joe Pye), in the foreground and Silphium perfolatum (Cup Plant) in the background. They are two terrific, long blooming native plants.

Do’s and Don’ts

Include plant species to provide nectar & pollen from early spring to late fall.

Embrace all bees and wasps too! We focused on native bees here, but Honey Bees are just as important.

Chose your native plants based on what they do not how they look!

Do not use any pesticides or herbicides.

Be sure to mulch what you plant to conserve moisture, protect soil and supress weeds. Plus the mulch will eventually break down and add to your soil.

Don’t cut your native plant stems down in the fall as you will likely damage, kill caterpillar cocoons. If you take down plants with seed pods, you take food away from the birds. If you cut everything down so it is neat, you also take away wildlife shelter.

Create habitat areas, thickets or snags for the birds.

Do certify your pollinator habitat with Amercan Wildlife Federation & Pollinators.org or join the Pollinator pledge at Xerces.com.

Plant healthy plants that are less likely to attract damaging insects.

Not all cultivar plant varities are bad, so choose wisely.

Do not assume that Wildflower seed packets contain plants that are native to your area.

If you have space, plant in large drifts, this attracts bees and allows them to conserve energy from searching for the next plant and mimics the prairie or meadow habitat.

Avoid landscape fabric!

Do water your native plants reguraly until they are established. Once established they will require little care.

Resources

https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/About/Native-Plants/keystone-plants-by-ecoregion

https://www.pollinator.org/guides

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201214123451.htm

https://www.xerces.org/pollinator-conservation

https://warren.cce.cornell.edu/gardening-landscape/warren-county-master-gardener-articles/gardening-with-pollinators-in-mind

Books

Heather Holmes - Pollinators of Native Plants, Wasps, Bees, An Identification Guide all found at https://www.pollinationpress.com/authors.html Heather’s books are essential!

Kim Eierman - The Pollinator Victory Garden, https://www.ecobeneficial.com/pvg/

Xerces - Feed the Bees, https://www.xerces.org/publications/books/100-plants-feed-bees

Doug Tallamy - Bringing Nature Home, https://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Nature-Home-Wildlife-Expanded/dp/0881929921

Oliver Milman - The Insect Crisis, https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+insect+crisis+by+oliver+milman&hvadid=604512538927&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9016934&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=9443949528747669366&hvtargid=kwd-1647751061731&hydadcr=3235_13534028&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_9riqohx26m_e