Theme: Pursuing Pollinators
Empowering Flowering
Fast Plants Deliver
Butterfly
gardens are a favorite and enticing schoolyard theme, but these
winged beauties, who help move pollen from male to female flowers
so fertilization and seed production can occur, are hardly
the only such partners. In fact, thousands of different animal
species help pollinate plants, including bees of all sizes,
tiny wasps, moths, flies, bats, and hummingbirds.
The role of pollinators is often taken for granted, but it
is more important than many of us recognize. These creatures
are vital to a healthy ecosystem and to production of many of
the crops that feed, clothe, and otherwise support human existence.
Without them, most flowering plants wouldn't be able to produce
fruits and seeds to create the next generation. Some plants,
like daisies and other Composite flowers, offer lots of easily
accessible nectar that attracts a wide range of pollinators.
Other plants, such as certain orchid species, may depend on
a single pollinator. If a plant is dependent on a single or
limited number of pollinators whose numbers dwindle, the plant's
future will be in jeopardy. The same is true of pollinators
dependent on a limited number of plant types.
Plant scientists are concerned about humans' role in weakening
pollinator/plant relationships. The overuse of pesticides, which
often kill beneficial pollinators as well as intended pests,
is one factor. Another factor, particularly serious for migrating
pollinators such as monarch butterflies, is land fragmentation
that results largely from development. Isolated plants can't
attract a variety of pollinators or visitors frequent enough
to sustain the plants and ultimately their partners.
What Students Can Do: Plant
a Pollinator Garden
By creating a garden that attracts a range of pollinators, students
can provide vital oases amidst seas of buildings and concrete.
They can, in turn, use these living laboratories to explore
plants, animal visitors, and the ways in which the threads of
life connect. Here are some general guidelines for cultivating
gardens that appeal to these important plant partners.
Plant
plenty of nectar- and pollen-rich flowers. Use as many native
plants as possible, since local plants and pollinators are more
likely to be adapted to one another. Also shoot for old-fashioned
varieties. Although hybrid flowers are bred to look or smell
nice for humans, they often don't provide much accessible nectar
or pollen for animal partners.
Include a variety of flowers that bloom throughout the season.
By doing so, you will accommodate different pollinators' preferences
and provide a sequence of pollen and nectar sources throughout
different stages of the life cycle.
Try to get flowers with a range of shapes and sizes. Trumpet
or cup-shaped flowers, such as cardinal flower, honeysuckle,
and bee balm, attract a wide range of pollinators. Pollinators
with shorter tongues, such as small native bees and wasps, feed
on tightly packed clusters of small flowers, such as those found
on milkweed, zinnia, phlox, and mint. Hummingbirds feed on red,
purple, or orange flowers with lots of nectar, such as bee balm,
fuschia, sage, and nasturtium.
Include food sources (host plants) and overwintering places
for eggs and larvae. Allow a section of your schoolyard
to revert to wild grasses, weeds, and wildflowers (e.g., milkweed
and Queen Anne's lace), and plant dill and parsley for larvae.
Provide water. Pollinators such as butterflies can gather
and sip at shallow pools, mud puddles, and birdbaths, and bees
and wasps to build nests.
Avoid using pesticides and herbicides. Many can be
harmful to pollinators as well as pests. Herbicides may wipe
out key plants (weeds) that are important for pollinators' food
mix. If you feel that you must control pests, judiciously use
homemade remedies such as garlic spray, or pesticides derived
from plants or microbes. Apply them only after sundown, when
most pollinators have stopped their rounds.
Provide nesting sites and materials. Leave cut plant
stems exposed, turn flowerpots with bottom holes upside down,
leave twigs and brush in small piles, create mud puddles, or
put out pieces of string or other light fibers.
Author: Eve Pranis
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