Gardening for pollinators

Attracting bees, butterflies, and birds to your garden

Bees• Decline in health, populations• Colony collapse disorder, tracheal mites, foul

brood, pesticide use, commercial beekeeping • Honeybees provide over $3 billion in

pollination services annually in the US alone

Fear of bees is irrational if you aren’t allergic

• Bees typically will not sting humans unless provoked

• Bees die after single stinging incident• Swarming bees are most docile– They have no brood or honey to protect

Bees forage throughout the growing season

• Early spring to late fall as weather and nectar availability permit

• To attract bees, plant a variety of forage plants that flower at different times of the year

• Ease the burden of long MN winter with early- and late-flowering plant species

EARLY-flowering plants

• Overwintering garden plants, early weeds (ex: dandelions), crocus, hyacinth, borage, calendula, lilac, alfalfa, red clover, buckwheat, apples, cherries, chokeberries, Juneberries, pussy willow, currant, alder, bleeding heart, hawthorn, mountain ash

MIDSEASON-flowering plants

• Bee balm, cosmos, echinacea, snapdragons, foxglove, hosta, globe thistle, lavender, Liatris, skullcap, mullein, verbena, Baptisia, buckeye, linden/basswood, raspberry, French marigold, fuschia, many annuals

LATE-flowering plants

• Zinnias, sedum, asters, witch hazel, goldenrod, chrysanthemum, snapdragon, chelone (AKA obedient plant), Joe pye weed, perennial sunflower, helenium

Native bee food plants

• From the University of MN:

Qualities to look for in bee forage plants:

• Your bee garden should be at least 1 meter in diameter or bees may ignore it

* Single-flowering varieties– Doubles are pretty but they produce less nectar

• Open-pollinated (non-hybrids)– Bees also need pollen for protein and hybrids are

usually sterile so they produce little or no pollen

No!

Other bee-friendly actions:

• Don’t use broad-spectrum or synthetic pesticides in your garden (or anywhere!)

• Provide bare ground for ground-nesting bees• Let brambles or hedgerows grow wild and

weedy• Make a wooden nest box for mason bees

How to provide habitat for Minnesota’s native bees:

• Practice no-till gardening • Leave logs, snags, stumps, and clumps of grass

for bees to nest in• Plant hedgerows with dogwood, pussy willow,

sand cherry, brambles, or other flowering plants

• Don’t spray chemicals in bee habitats

Gardening to attract native bees:

• Use native plants• Choose several colors of flowers– blue, purple, violet, white, & yellow

• Plant flowers in clumps• Include flowers of different shapes– Bees come in all sizes and have differing tongue

lengths

Mason bees

• Solitary• Only live in existing holes (don’t make new

ones)• Very gentle, rarely sting

Mining bees

• Solitary• Not aggressive, rarely sting• Habitat: exposed, well-drained soil

Gardening to attract butterflies

• Butterflies are also pollinators (so are flies, beetles, male mosquitos…)

• Group similar-colored flowers together– More attractive to butterflies

• Avoid double flowers• Choose plants with varying bloom times – Annuals: constant blooming– Critical time: mid- to late summer

• Choose plants that produce multiple florets with high nectar content

Butterfly gardening

• For specific butterflies, research host plant of caterpillars– Monarch: milkweed– Swallowtail: fennel, dill– Bog fritillary: willow, violets, smartweed– Silvery checkerspot: black-eyed Susan, sunflower

* Keep in mind that caterpillars may do some damage to your plants– Usually not serious or enough to kill the plant

Butterfly & caterpillar food

• Butterflies usually feed on something other than what caterpillars feed on– Some butterflies lack mouthparts, never eat– Some butterflies eat rotting fruit, dung, mud,

carrion, or nectar

For the butterflies that eat nectar:

• General butterfly-attracting plants:– Lilac, coneflower, butterfly weed, milkweed,

butterfly bush, asters, most plants in the mint family (sage, oregano, rosemary, lavender, lemon balm, basil, thyme…)

– (extensive lists in handouts)

Other considerations

• Provide wet sand or mud for butterflies– Males need these mineral salts to complete life cycle– Called “puddling”

Other considerations

• Provide a hedgerow of butterfly-attracting plants– Butterfly wings are delicate, easily tattered– Hedgerow protects them from damaging winds

Other considerations

• DON’T SPRAY PESTICIDES!– If you must use them, choose organic & target

specific– Don’t use on or near butterfly garden/habitat

(esp. Bt for caterpillar pests)

Speaking of caterpillar pests:

• Watch out for these destructors in your landscape– Gypsy moth– Tent caterpillar– Cutworm– Army worm– Imported cabbage looper

Cheap & easy butterfly attractors

• Sugar water in a tray or wicked jar

• Tray of rotting fruit

Gardening for birds

Why create a bird garden?

• Birds are losing habitat to human activities• A third of North America’s native birds are

experiencing population decline• Birds help us– Pollinate some flowers– Eat pest insects– Add to natural beauty of our landscapes

Attracting birds

• Plants that attract birds:– Aster, bachelor buttons, black-eyed Susan,

chrysanthemum, columbine, marigold, sunflowers, cedar, cherry, crabapple, dogwood, hawthorn, plum, Juneberry, sumac, blackberry, boxwood, elderberry, grape, holly, honeysuckle, myrtle, raspberry, witch hazel, yew, viburnum….

Other things that attract birds

• Bird feeders• Nesting sites– birdhouses

• Brush piles & dead trees– Good habitat/shelter

• Water features– Birdbaths, ponds

Birds can also be pests

• Eat berries & other crops• Nest where you don’t want them• Poop• attack

solutions

• Share your bounty & tolerate minor losses• Dedicate a less-used part of your yard to

bird/wildlife habitat• Bird-proof the things you don’t want to share– Ex: bird netting for berries

• Don’t jump to conclusions– Birds in garden may be eating pests

Learn more about native pollinators:

• Xerces Society Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course– June 13, 2012 – 9am-4pm in Duluth– $45 – Register online at www.xerces.org– www.xerces.org is an EXCELLENT resource for

more info on pollinators

Problem-solving with plants

Wet soil, dry soil, shade, and deer issues

Problem #1:Wet soil/standing water

• Solution: plant a rain garden– Shallow depression filled with flood-tolerant

shrubs, flowers, and grasses that collect & filter storm runoff

– Attracts birds & butterflies– Reduces mosquito habitat

Problem #1: wet soil/standing water

• Plants to use (list provided in handout):– Obedient plant, prairie dropseed, daylily, Joe pye

weed, boneset, willow, tamarack, river birch, caterpillar grass, cardinal flower, swamp milkweed, switchgrass, lupine, Veronica, Liatris…

– Bigger plants take up more water

Rain Garden Placement• Easiest to create in low point in yard– Where water naturally flows already

• Next to hard, impermeable surfaces or where more water flows– Alley, sidewalk, driveway, flow from gutters– Keep it @ least 10 ft from buildings

• Avoid damage to foundation

• Best to start with design before you start digging

Problem #2: sandy/dry soil

• Very common in this area• Plant in depressions and mulch to preserve water– Set transplants slightly lower than soil surface

• For small spaces, you can add organic material– Increase water-holding capacity of soil– Mix 50/50 with existing soil when transplanting– Might only be temporary

Problem #2: sandy/dry soil

• Select drought-tolerant, native plants– Ex: Juneberry, chokeberry, bearberry, butterfly

bush, smoketree, creeping juniper, spicebush, honeysuckle, bush cherry, sumac, currant, Rugosa rose, lilac, viburnum, Artemisia, Penstemon, Echinacea, sage, yarrow, tickseed, lamb’s ear

Problem #3: shade

• Many tall trees in the area• Selective culling or pruning can help• Or choose shade-tolerant plants

Problem #3: shade

• Shade-tolerant plants:– Honeysuckle, lady’s mantle, valerian, lenten rose,

goldenseal, wild ginger, blue cohosh, black cohosh, hostas, ferns, trillium, bleeding heart, alder, beech, redbud, witch hazel, ironwood, hemlock

Problem #3: shade

• Shade-tolerant edibles: – ostrich fern, serviceberry, wintergreen, lettuce,

spinach, Swiss chard, cabbage, bok choy, kohlrabi, chokecherry, highbush cranberry, chokeberry

Problem #4: deer

• Exclusion is the best deterrent– Tall fence– 3D fence– Outward-angled fence

Problem #4: deer

• Cheaper deterrents:– Dried blood around garden perimeter– Plantskydd– Repellex (for ornamentals only)• Capsaicin systemic—makes plants spicy!• Works on white cedar (a favorite food of deer)

Deer’s favorite foods

• White cedar• Apples• Hostas• Clematis• Roses• Azalea• Hibiscus• Phlox• White pine• Mountain ash

• Asiatic lilies• Burning bush• Endive• Lettuce• Bitter greens• Crabapple • Crocus• Pansy• Flowering almond• Hydrangea

Deer-resistant plants

• Yarrow• Ageratum• Barberry• Lamb’s ear• Allium• Columbine• Wax begonia• Coneflower• Heliotrope• Sweet alyssum

• Daffodil• Peony• Poppy• Geranium• Russian sage• Marigold• Bittersweet• Forsythia• Scots pine• lilac

Selecting deer resistant plants

• IN GENERAL, they are:– Furry– Thorny (exception: roses)– Not green– Toxic

Proper planting techniques

For trees, shrubs, and perennials

Trees & shrubs

• Materials:– Shovel– Compost or manure– Mulch (optional)– Tree protector (optional)

Trees & shrubs• Method:– Dig a hole as deep as pot and twice as wide– Mix extant soil with compost 50/50– Place plant in hole

• Separate/spread pot-bound roots– Backfill with 50/50 mix– Mound soil around plant

• Make a small “moat” around plant to hold water– Cover with mulch

Perennials & annuals

• Materials:– Shovel– Compost/fertilizer (optional)– Mulch (optional)

Perennials & annuals

• Methods:– Dig hole @ least as big as pot– Mix extant soil with compost or fertilizer

(optional)– Place plant in hole• Separate/spread roots if rootbound

– Mulch (optional)