It is amazing what we can create in our small urban gardens for our insect and bird residents. The right plants blooming at the right time can provide for many species, which in turn help provide fruits, vegetables, health, and satisfaction for us.
BWNA hosted a great class last May on insect pollinators for our gardens, and much of the information shared is easily applicable to our gardens right now. All we need is a garden of plants with varied flower shapes, heights, and blooming times, and the pollinators will come.
A useful concept is “pollinator syndromes,” flower characteristics that appeal to different pollinators from bees and flies to birds and bats. For a handy reference chart go to:
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/What_is_Pollination/syndromes.shtml
Pollinators: We love honey and mason bees in our gardens and support them with hives and hatching tubes. There are many others pollinators, such as tiny sweat bees and bumblebees, flies that look like bees, butterflies, beetles, and birds. All have different needs for nectar and pollen sources. Some plants are pollinated by the wind—think of all the pollen conifers spread on windy spring day.
Bloom Timing: I have seen honeybees on my crocuses in late January. The bees and hummingbirds are pollinating my raspberries in May. Plan to provide flowers from late winter to late fall; consider early spring bulbs to late fall chrysanthemums and everything in between.
Flower Shapes: Our pollinators have different gathering methods. A bee, fly, or butterfly wants a shallow or tubular flower with a landing platform; for example, sunflowers or foxgloves. It makes me chuckle to see eight bees of different genera on a single sunflower! Bees and the wind help pollinate tomatoes by vibrating the flowers. A butterfly wants a tubular flower. So does the hummingbird. Stay aware of what you plant so you have a variety of shapes.
Plant Height: Some pollinators want a ground cover; others love a tree or shrub.
Non-Invasive Natives and Imports: I love Penstemons (beardtongue) and have a collection of native Penstemons that bloom earlier and others from elsewhere in the U.S. that extend the season through the summer. My native Ribes sanguineum (red current) and Styrax japonicus (Japanese Snowbell) from Asia spread out the blooming season for the bees that love these shrubs. Using both natives and other plants gives the pollinators and me the lengthened blooming times, flower shapes, and plant sizes that please us all.