Big Goings On At Clay and Limestone

Look who stopped by for the celebration~Eastern Swallowtail Butterfly

It's National Pollinator Week. The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture has proclaimed June 20-26, 2011 as National Pollinator Week. Clay and Limestone is joining the celebration with a look at the pollinators that live in the garden and the wildflowers that support them.

Liatris spicata with Bumble

Back in 2007 the Senate passed Resolution 580, "Recognizing the importance of pollinators to ecosystem health and agriculture in the United States and the value of partnership efforts to increase awareness about pollinators and support for protecting and sustaining pollinators..." (source) Each year since then, the Secretary of Agriculture proclaims the last full week in June as the official date of National Pollinator Week.

Poster available from Pollinator Partnership org.

Quick facts from the Pollinator Partnership

• About 75% of all flowering plant species need the help of animals to move their heavy pollen grains from plant to plant for fertilization.
• It's more then bees! About 1,000 of all pollinators are vertebrates such as birds, bats, and small mammals.
• Most pollinators (about 200,000 species) are beneficial insects such as flies, beetles, wasps, ants, butterflies, moths, and bees.
• Pollinators are keystone species~which simply means they are essential to our environment.
• Pollinators effect 1/3 of all food and beverages in the US
• That adds up to nearly $20 billion in food products each year

I don't grow veggies in my garden, but, I do need pollinators to pollinate my wildflowers. The pollinators and I are quite happy with our arrangement: There's plenty of pollen and nectar producing plants; there are host plants for offspring; water; bare dirt for ground nesting bees; there are seed heads for birds; and, there are fragrant or smelly plants for moths and flies.

If you look closely you can see the Asteraceae stars

One of the best nectar and pollen producers blooming right now at C and L is Liatris spicata. Dense Blazing Star is found throughout most of Tennessee and the eastern half of North America from Canada to Florida. It's practically foolproof and asks only for sunshine and good drainage.

Sunday in the garden

It rewards you with feathery stalks of purple blooms that are pollinator magnets! In my shallow soil it grows over two feet tall, but, in deeper soil (not richer soil) and true full sun, may top out at 4 foot. I haven't seen a pest on it but, I've seen, hover flies, bumbles, carpenter bees, green metallic bees, wasps, skippers and butterflies.

Liatris blooms from top down

I also grow L aspera and L squarrulosa, both bloom later summer and early fall, providing nectar and pollen for late visitors to the garden.

An Asteraceae family member, it has disc florets and no ray florets

With close to 40 different Liatris species in North America, you will be able to find one or two to grow in your garden. For instance Liatris punctata is perfectly adapted to western and desert gardens. Just check with your local native plant nursery....You'll love the flowers and the visitors.

xxoogail

PS my dears, you know the drill~Never, ever, ever, ever, ever use pesticides if you have a hope to have a garden filled with happy pollinators!


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)
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)
Royalty In The Garden (here)
A Pollinator friendly Shrub (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)

Bee clip art (here)

*I receive no compensation, just immense satisfaction and joy from promoting The Pollinator Partnership.

This post was written by Gail Eichelberger for my blog Clay and Limestone Copyright 2011.This work protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.