Page 7 - Agway Summer Mag

POLLINATORS

Building blocks of a balanced ecosystem Here are some suggestions:

Pollinators are responsible for assisting more than 80% of the world’s flowering Nectar and larvae host plant material for
plants to reproduce. Without them, humans and wildlife would simply not survive. Butterfly Garden

• Buddleja - Butterfly Bush (non-native exception)
This spring many Agway customers pollinate several types of plants. • Aquilegia canadensis - Eastern Columbine
inquired about pollinator plants. All are equally important but it • Chelone glabra - Turtlehead
I am glad to know there is a is good to know the plants that • Rudebeckia hirta - Black-eyed Susan
movement or a consciousness pollinators prefer. • Phlox paniculata - Garden Phlox
regarding the natural health of our • Heuchera - Coral
home we call Cape Cod. I too have For many years I have planted • Bells Liatris spicata - Liatris Blazing Star
been reading and taking classes butterfly gardens for children and • Echinacea purpurea - Coneflower
for a better understanding of the adults alike. For a successful • Asclepias tuberosa - Butterfly Weed
choices we can make to benefit butterfly garden you need not only • Asclepsias incarnata - Swamp Milkweed
our pollinators. In the book, plants that have the nectar they • Aster novae - New England Aster
Bringing Nature Home—How are searching for but also larval • Cephalanthus occidentalis - Buttonbush
You Can Sustain Wildlife, author host plants where they will • Itea virginica - Sweetspire
Douglas Tallamy encourages us to produce larvae and therefore
make simple choices in our increase their populations. The Nectar plant material for Hummingbird garden
landscapes to increase biodiversity create a butterfly garden to enjoy “ • Lonicera sempervirens - Honeysuckle vine
latter being the most important
in our gardens. because butterflies lay their eggs Every third • Lobelia cardinalis - Cardinal Flower

Pollinators are more than the bees only on the plant species to bite of food that • Monarda didyma - Bee Balm
which their larvae are adapted.
• Asclepias tuberosa - Butterfly Weed
and butterflies that we see flying Specifically Milkweed. You can • Heuchera americana - Coral Bells
around our gardens. Insects you take, thank
including mosquitos, moths, wasps, or just include native plant Additional pollinator natives
ants, beetles and flies along with material in your plantings, either a bee or other
birds and small mammals like bats way you will see a variety of • Sambucus canadensis - Elderberry
help to continue the food chain and butterflies in your yard. I plant pollinator.” • Rhododendron viscosum - Swamp Azalea
health of a bio system. Pollinators Native plant material as I would - E. O. Wilson • Rhododendron Max - Rosebay Rhododendron
are the building blocks of a any other garden material, a good • Gaillardia aristata - Blanket Flower
balanced ecosystem. home with good soil and water • Penstemon digitalis - Beardtounge
until established. Many a garden full of native plantings • Eupatorium dubium - Joe Pye Weed
When talking about pollinators it is populations of butterflies are releases us from the constant • Solidago rugosa - Goldenrod
• Helenium autumnale - Helen’s Flower
always important to include threatened by native habitat loss. maintenance our gardens now
“natives.” Pollinators and native Try to do everything you can to require. Native plants do not Winter food native garden for birds
plants go hand in hand. Many include natives in your landscape require fertilizer, lots of water
pollinators are plant specific to help sustain the butterfly and or chemicals to control pests. • Juniper is virginiana - Eastern Red Cedar
having evolved with a plant insect populations adapted to When we increase our • Viburnum nudum - Smooth Viburnum
species (specialists) while others our New England region. pollinators we increase the • Arctostaphylos - Bearberry
(generalists) have evolved to food source for our song birds • Cornus sericea - Red Osier Dogwood
Agway has a variety of native and continue to support the • Ilex verticillata - Winterberry
species available. No need to plant communities
sacrifice beauty! Many native throughout the meadows Native trees to support wildlife
plants are just as beautiful as and wetland edge. As we make • Acer rubrum - Red Maple
our ornamentals. I especially like choices for our gardens • Pinus strobes - White Pine
Sweetspire—its falling white spire remember insect diversity. • Amelanchier canadensis - Service berry
flowers are long lived and it’s a Visit the native plant section • Cersis canadensis - Eastern Redbud
low maintenance shrub (as most at Agway and don’t forget to • Quercus bicolor - Swamp White Oak
natives are). Native shrubs are a include your choice of a water
good addition to the shrub border, source for all that wonderful of Cape Cod
not only to support our insect, life now in your garden!
butterfly and bird populations but