This week is National Pollinator Week. So get out to a garden and see what birds, bees, butterflies and other garden creatures do to provide us food and beauty. The National Pollinator Project reports that somewhere between 75% and 95% of all flowering plants on the earth need help with pollination. They need pollinators. Pollinators provide pollination services to over 180,000 different plant species and more than 1200 crops. That means that 1 out of every three bites of food you eat is there because of pollinators. If we want to talk dollars and cents, pollinators add 217 billion dollars to the global economy, and honey bees alone are responsible for between 1.2 and 5.4 billion dollars in agricultural productivity in the United States. In addition to the food that we eat, pollinators support healthy ecosystems that clean the air, stabilize soils, protect from severe weather, and support other wildlife. http://pollinator.org
Plant a Garden that Birds, Bees and Butterflies will Love
It is a real treat to come home from work each day and relax in my pollinator friendly garden. I have noticed the birds arrive first, then the bees, then the majestic butterflies. I could spend hours watching these beautiful creatures fly from flower to flower. There is a real spiritual element butterflies bring to my garden. If you want to attract pollinators to your home garden you will need to provide the following basic elements:
- provide a diverse selection of all season blooms that will provide pollen and nesting resources
- consider “less lawn and more natural space”
- provide a fresh water source
- avoid use of pesticides
Join Me for a “Bee Friendly” Family Event
Visiting the pollinator.org website you will notice a map indicating events throughout the country celebrating Pollinator Week 2019. Check out that little dot in upstate NY. It is my very own Garden Goddess Event. This Saturday June 22, from 10:00am until 2:00pm, I will be hosting a family centered pollinator celebration in my Porter Corners gardens. Families can walk through the gardens to see, touch and smell shrubs, perennials and annuals that welcome pollinators. They will learn the basics needed to plant a home garden that welcomes pollinators using plants that will work in our North Country growing region. Kids will have fun painting their own birdhouse or butterfly feeder to take home. Cost is $15.00/child. Preregistration is available by going to my website: http://gardengoddesssenseandsustainability.org
