Where Have All The Pollinators Gone?

 They're still here!

Especially now that the Willowleaf Aster is in bloom.   It's THE gathering place for all the bumbles and a few smaller bees at the end of a hard day!  Boy, do they ever have hard days!

Now that's a  beauty of Green Metallic Bee on an asteraceae!

Before winter begins our native bees need to collect as much pollen and nectar for their offspring as is possible.  Some will work themselves to exhaustion and sleep on the underside of the plant  until the sun warms their bodies to over 50F when they'll buzz back to work. 

If you garden in a climate colder then mine, your local bees may have already decamped for the winter.   Decamped being a euphemism for shuffled off this mortal coil or perhaps even gone underground.   But, here, the local/native bees are still working  flowers for every bit of pollen and nectar they can collect.   When a killing frost  finally puts the  flowers out of the pollen/nectar making business,  our Bumbles and small bees will spend the winter in their nest  as  immature  larvae or in an adult stage waiting until Spring to emerge and begin their short and intensely busy life cycle.   

In the meantime, Symphyotrichum praealtum 'Miss Bessie' (here to see if  she'll grow in your garden)   and other late blooming plants  are hosting a party for every Bumble, Bee Mimic, Wasp, Bee Fly or  Honeybee that lives here or visits the garden.  The party will last most of November and even survive mild frosts.


Please feel free to stop by to say hello to  the revelers! 


xxoogail

PS In case you've forgotten the Golden Rules for attracting pollinators to your garden:

• plant large swathes of pollinator friendly, nectar and pollen producers
• plant host plants~don't stop at nectar and pollen plants
• plan for bloom from late spring to early winter.
• bee sure to include water
• provide nesting sites for a variety of visitors,  leave some bare ground (ix-nay on the plastic landscape cloth), decaying logs and even special bee houses

Now, please raise your hand and solemnly swear that you will never, ever, ever, ever, ever use pesticides in your garden. Now don't you feel better for having made that commitment! I know I do. 

In case you want to read earlier pollinator posts~

Now Is The Time To Bee-gin Thinking About Bees ( here)
This Is The Place To Bee ( here)
If You Could Plant Only One Plant In Your Garden~Don't (here)
Must Bee The Season of The Witch (here)
Go Bare In Your Garden (here)
We can't All Be Pretty Pollinators (here)
Eye, Eye Skipper, Big Eyed Pollinators (here)
What's In Your Garden (here)
Royalty In The Garden~Monarch Butterfly (here)
Carpenter Bees (here)
Got Wildflowers?(here)
It's Spring and A Gardener's Thoughts Are On Pollinators (here)
The Wildflower and The Bee (here)
A Few Good Reasons To Plant Milkweek (here)
Got Shade? You Can Have Pollinators ( (here)
A Pollinator friendly Shrub (here)
Big Goings On at C and L (here)

Other bee posts you might want to read~

Count Yourself Lucky To Have Hoverflies ( here)
Bumblebee Hotel (here)
Still Taking Care Of Bzzness (here)
My Sweet Embraceable You (here)



Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone."