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Pollinator Gardens

Gardening Video: Selecting WNC Natives and Nativars

August 10, 2021

Gardening in the Mountains presents:
Selecting WNC Natives and Nativars

Check out the latest gardening video on the Buncombe County Master Gardener website.  Learn the difference between native plants, nativars, and hybrids.  Understand why it matters for gardens designed to support pollinators, biodiversity, and wildlife. To access this video, click on the link below:

Selecting WNC Natives and Nativars

Or go to www.buncombemastergardener.org, click on the ‘Gardening Videos’ tab at the top of the page, and select the video from the list provided.

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Categories Gardening Videos, Pollinator Gardens Tags native plants, pollinators

Gardening Video: Creating and Managing Pollinator Habitat

June 15, 2021

Gardening in the Mountains presents:
Creating and Managing Pollinator Habitat

Presenter: Bryan Tompkins, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Learn how to prepare, plant, and maintain your pollinator garden as a complete habitat—a set of components that not only provides a food source for pollinators, but also includes nesting sites, over-wintering areas, water, host plants, and shelter.

To access this video on the Buncombe County Master Gardener website, click on the link below:

 Creating and Managing Pollinator Habitat

Or go to www.buncombemastergardener.org, click on the ‘Gardening Videos’ tab at the top of the page and select the video from the list provided.

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Categories Gardening Videos, Pollinator Gardens Tags pollinators

Pollinator-Friendly Gardening Year-round

September 18, 2018

Are the vibrant flowering plants that were attracting butterflies, bees, other insects, and birds to your garden looking a bit faded? You may itch to start cleaning out dead, drying vegetation to prepare for winter. Stop! Many critters will benefit from these plant remains, especially the birds—and many birds and other pollinators are in our gardens year-round.

Pollinator garden in bloom (August)_Sara Asher Morris_CC BY-NC 2.0_Flickr
Pollinator garden in bloom

Pollinators’ wide world
You’ve likely heard of the need for plants that attract and feed honey bees and Monarch butterflies. Bee decline threatens the insect pollination of critical food crops. Monarch butterflies and their migration patterns are an awesome and beautiful natural event. Loss of habitats and overly aggressive use of insecticides and herbicides are culprits in honey bees and Monarch butterflies’ misfortunes. But there are thousands of other bee and butterfly species— not to mention other insects and birds—that depend on pollen plants for their existence.

What to include in your garden?
Planting Monarch- or honey bee-friendly annuals and perennials that bloom mostly in the summer may not be enough to assist other important pollen-needing critters. Bees of all kinds love the flowers (pollen) of many other beautiful landscape plants. And birds flourish where insects are abundant. Consider a year-round approach to pollinator-attracting garden plantings!

Fall
As summer annuals and perennials fade, autumn-flowerers begin to show off. Cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) and goldenrods (Solidago spp.) are just starting to display their colors. Asters and sunflowers (many species of both) are among many other fall-blooming plants to consider adding to your garden.

Fall is also a good time to plan for pollen plants year-round. Considering adding trees to your landscape, both large and small, that will provide food sources as the garden emerges next spring. Fall and winter planting of trees will get a start on a long-term food source for insects and, subsequently, birds. In Western North Carolina, we are surrounded by beautiful deciduous hardwood forests. Birds are particularly dependent on the insect populations that make their homes in trees. In his book, Bringing Nature Home (Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2014) researcher Douglas Tallamy estimates that as many as 400 different insects live off oak trees—creating a feast for birds. Maples, oaks, and yellow poplars are among the first producers of pollen in early spring. Smaller understory shrubs and trees— holly, redbud, serviceberry, dogwood and sourwood—follow soon, blooming in April and May. The pollen these trees produce attracts emerging insects. Overwintering and migrating birds eat many of these insects. 

Weather alert! If heat continues and rainfall tapers off (as it usually does in the fall months), be sure to water to extend the blooming season and keep your new plantings thriving.

Winter
Although your garden may seem to have come to a standstill, your plantings are increasing root mass all winter. Although most insects are dormant, birds are busy consuming seed from trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. Meanwhile, Monarchs are vacationing in Mexico!

Spring
Everything is awakening. In addition to the early blooming trees and the beautiful flowering understory trees, make sure your landscape includes spring ephemerals. Some you can purchase at nurseries include bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), trilliums (Trillium spp.), and wild ginger (Asarum canadense). Also, as your lawn comes to life, recognize that treating for weeds and insects can damage pollinator insects’ habitat and health.

Summer
The summer season gives the best show. Milkweeds provide nectar for many butterfly species and larval food for the Monarchs. Bees, butterflies, and other insects cover bee balm (Monarda spp.) flowers. Many ornamental annuals and perennials are good nectar and pollen sources, as well.

Pollinator-friendly plants
A few trees, shrubs, and plants to consider for your landscape:

Spring Summer Fall
Serviceberry Sweet Pepperbush Stoke’s Aster
Flowering Dogwood Buttonbush Sunflower
Redbud Summer Phlox Rose Mallow
Carolina Silverbell Black-eyed Susan Wild Bergamot
Highbush Blueberry Sourwood Cardinal Flower
American Holly Purple Coneflower Swamp Milkweed
Winterberry Bee Balm Goldenrod

So, in every season gardeners who work to increase and protect the plants that support insects are pollinating insects’ and birds’ best friends! 

Note: Master GardenerSM volunteers of Buncombe County encourage you to visit “The Learning Garden” at the Cooperative Extension office, 49 Mt. Carmel Road, Asheville, where you will see examples of year-round pollinator-attracting gardens. 

Article written by James C. Wade, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer. 

More information
Managing Backyards and Other Urban Habitats for Birds
North Carolina Cooperative Extension, North Carolina State University

Butterflies in Your Backyard
North Carolina Cooperative Extension, North Carolina State University

Pollinator Plants: Mid-Atlantic Region
The Xerces Society

Pollinator Plants: Southeast Region
The Xerces Society

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