Updated 5/28/2025

 

 

National Pollinator Week

 

 

 

In 2007, the U.S. Senate passed a bill designating one week in June as National Pollinator Week. This legislation recognizes the importance of pollinators, including bees and butterflies, in our food supply and in the health of all ecosystems.

Every third bite of food we consume is directly attributable to insect pollinators. The global economic value is worth between $250 billion and $600 billion per year. Around 85% of all flowering plants are pollinated by insects and small animals, ensuring the regeneration of forests and fields as well as high yielding edible crops.

Our morning coffee beans are primarily self-pollinated, depending on crop species. Introducing bees, however, can increase yields and lower costs of production.

In tropical regions of South America, Africa, Indonesia, and, more recently, Australia, a tiny midge is responsible for pollinating cacao trees, bringing us chocolate. Chocolate contributes $100 billion annually to the global economy.

In the southern hemisphere, pollinator awareness programs take place in November. The Australian Government’s Department of the Environment recognizes a week in November as their pollinator week. Many countries throughout the world observe this initiative, with local organizations sponsoring programs to raise awareness.

An outdoor project can be an enjoyable and healthy way to use our time. Having the children participate teaches them valuable skills they can carry with them wherever they live.

 

If there’s one thing we could use more of, it’s nature.

 

 

 

What Bees and Butterflies Need

 

All living creatures need food and water, shelter, and a place to raise their young. By adapting the way we maintain the property around our homes, we can achieve both an attractive landscape and one that fosters native wildlife. Currently, 40% of the insect pollinator species are at risk of extinction. A few of us can make a small difference in our neighborhood; millions of us can begin to shake it up!

Houses—entire communities—generally have been built after felling all the native trees, bulldozing the rest, and covering the ground with high maintenance lawns. Streams diverted to concrete pipes underground take habitat from frogs, salamanders, turtles, and dragonflies. Where this tradition is changing, developers are roping off and protecting native stands of trees and understory species.

Maybe the builder spotted in a fast growing silver maple, a row of clipped hollies along the foundation, and a couple of forsythias in the back. Well, that won’t do much for all the bees and butterflies, or for the hummingbirds, bats, moths, and beetles that pollinate our crops and wild plants. And right there, in this yard and in that yard, lie the broken links in the food chain. Our monocultured and unnaturally manicured properties are sold as low maintenance, but there’s little life there.

 

The Missing Elements

 

 

We concentrate instead on creating an “indoor oasis”, untroubled that the quiet stillness outside the door is not what Mother Nature had intended. No birds chirping or warbling… no cicadas or katydids… no lizards leaping for their dinner… nowhere for the dragonfly to land.

Yes, we need more nature in our lives. By cultivating a relationship with the natural world, there’s more than just a pretty sight beyond the living room windows. There’s life. Birds will continue to follow million-year-old migration paths. Mason bees and swallowtail butterflies will secure homes for their young. And there will be less talk of scarcity.

Need to feel better? Try gardening! Just being outside—in nature—can lift your spirits.

 

 

 

A Garden of Annuals for Bees and Butterflies

 

 

 

Maybe this week’s goal is to carve out a section of the big lawn in the sunny back yard, and plant a flower garden. From spring through midsummer, we can plant annuals from seeds or from transplants. In the off-season, consider how your family can use the property in the future or expand existing gardens. It’s always a good time to decrease the amount of lawn space we have to mow, fertilize, and treat for insects and diseases.

Be sure to plant significant drifts of flowers instead of a dot of zinnias here and a couple of marigolds over there. Large blocks of similar colors are more likely to get attention from pollinators. If your space is limited, though, there are some options. Sunny windowbox gardens and pots filled with bright colorful flowers will generate interest from the pollinators. Or perhaps there’s room for a few blooming hanging baskets.

Each pollinator has its preferences. Hummingbirds are attracted to the color red, but bees can’t see it. Bees are initially attracted to blue, yellow, and white, and then visit a red flower nearby. Hummingbirds feed from long tubular flowers, but hover flies need short little flowers.

At night, moths can detect white or pale colored sweet-smelling flowers that are open at that time. Almond flowers are pollinated primarily by honey bees, and tomatoes by bumble bees. Butterflies are especially interested in landing platforms, such as those found on plants with wide, flat flowers.

There’s a direct correlation between the number of plant species in our gardens and the number of insects that will want to visit them. Creating a palate of various colors, scents, and flower forms will bring in a diverse assortment of insect species. For our pollinator friends, conserving energy is paramount in their search for food. That’s why a large grouping of annuals rather than a few plants spotted in here and there is more efficient for visiting bees.

 

What Is An Annual?

An annual grows from a seed that germinates, generally, in spring or summer. It grows for several weeks to a few months, matures, and then begins to flower. Many species of annuals bloom all summer, until frost ends their lives in autumn, roots and all. But, by then, the plant will have set seed, with help from the local pollinators. An annual completes its life cycle within one growing season.

Those seeds remain dormant over the winter, protected by their seed coats. With favorable weather conditions next spring, some of the seeds will germinate. Many, however, will be consumed by small mammals, birds, and insects.

 

What Do Pollinators Do?

 

 

Bees and butterflies, and other pollinators, transfer pollen grains from the male anthers of a flower to the stigma, the female part of a flower. Sometimes male and female flowers grow in separate flowers on the same plant (that’s a monoecious plant). And other plants have either all male or all female flowers (dioecious plants). Some have both male and female reproductive elements within each flower (perfect flowers).

Pollinators don’t do this intentionally. Instead, their goal is to collect the flowers’ pollen and nectar. They inadvertently pick up the pollen on their hairs or wings, after being lured in by the flowers and the sweet nectar. Many species of plants evolved flower structures that facilitate pollen dispersal (photo, above). Then the pollinators transfer pollen from flower to flower, from plant to plant, as they forage. Thus, they enable fertilization of the ovules—germ cells in the ovary of the female flower.

The male and the female plants must be the same species in order for their chromosomes to be compatible—for seeds to develop. However, interspecific and intergeneric hybrids sometimes do occur among closely related individuals.

The end result is a ripe fruit with viable seeds. That could be a zinnia’s seedpod, for example, or a blueberry, a peach, or a tulip poplar’s samara.

Cross Pollination

Ah, the genius of nature. Pollen grains and stigmas in many species mature at different times, preventing self-pollination.

Moving pollen among different plants of the same species permits cross-pollination, resulting in genetic diversity and, potentially, a better future for the species. Apple trees and blueberries are two crops that benefit from cross-pollination.

 

Single? Double? Or Triple Flowers?

 

 

Flowers with single rows of petals usually have more pollen and nectaries than those with a more complicated petal structure. Plant breeders all over the world have introduced to the marketplace thousands of these fluffy double-flowered hybrids, and they are beautiful. That’s fine, for aesthetics.

But, for bees and butterflies, there’s less treasure for them in flowers filled with petals. Reproductive structures that produce nectar and pollen are often reduced and replaced with additional petals (photo, above) in the breeding process. Collecting pollen or nectar from these packed doubles is less efficient, and requires extra visits to gather sufficient quantities, if they offer any sustenance at all. So, pollinators will look for more desirable plants elsewhere to conserve energy, avoiding such anomalies of nature.

When choosing varieties for your annual garden, keep these details in mind. Gardens loaded with heavy producers of nectar and pollen (in other words, single or uncomplicated flowers) will better serve the pollinators that visit them.

Have you ever wondered why bees linger among certain flowers, but leave immediately upon landing on others? I see this with cultivars of Echinacea, the coneflowers. Simpler hybrids have more pollen and nectar. But the thickly petalled cultivars have virtually no resources to offer the pollinators.

Sunflowers

Many varieties of recent sunflower introductions have been hybridized to grow flowers with very little or no viable pollen at all. When looking through catalogs, make note of the ones called “pollenless”. These varieties will make less of a mess on the credenza and won’t cause you to sneeze. But they have little to offer bees and butterflies.

Pollenless sunflowers won’t develop mature seeds filled with enough food for birds and other animals. If pollinators and full seedpods are what you want, ask the seed supplier for varieties that make edible seeds, not just edible flowers.

These varieties of sunflowers attract pollinators and make edible seeds:

• ‘Big Smile’
• ‘Black Peredovik’
• ‘Chocolate’
• ‘Giganteus’
• ‘Hopi Black Dye’
• ‘Mammoth Grey Stripe’
• ‘Mammoth Russian’
• ‘Paul Bunyan’
• ‘Royal’
• ‘Royal Hybrid 1121’
• ‘Sunzilla’
• ‘Super Snack’
• ‘Titan’

Sunflowers have a row of showy ray florets surrounding the disc florets. Disc florets open slowly over time, from the outer edge to the center, ensuring many visits from different pollinators.

The Asteraceae family is perhaps the largest, with 1900 genera and over 32,000 species of trees, shrubs, annuals, and perennials. (The orchid family is its main rival, but no one knows exactly how many species are in either family.) Members of this extended family include sunflowers, lettuce, coreopsis, ageratum, marigold, zinnia, coneflower, gerbera daisy, chrysanthemum, and Shasta daisy. Their composite flowers provide a rich source of nectar and pollen, but, again, be cautious of the highly hybridized cultivars.

Visit a botanical garden or a garden center, and observe which blooming plants attract the most pollinators. Take note of the species and varieties that keep bees probing the flowers for the longest period of time.

 

Where to Plant?

 

 

A large bed of color around the patio or the mailbox, a free-standing raised bed, and a border close to the vegetable garden are just some of the possibilities. Farmers often include wide bands of wildflowers alongside their fields of crops for better pollination and heavier yields.

One plant that attracts all sorts of pollinators is ‘African Blue’ basil. This is a sterile herb—unable to set seed—so it flowers constantly. Other varieties of sweet or flavored basils customarily are used in the kitchen. Plant an ‘African Blue’ basil in early summer, close to tomatoes, peppers, and squash to encourage bees to visit the veggies. And let it flower.

Check with local garden centers to see what they have available. Ask for help choosing annuals—seeds or transplants—that attract pollinators.

Before you do any digging, ask your municipality (call 8-1-1) to mark underground utilities. Whether you’ll be tilling the area or digging it by hand, you’ll certainly want to avoid damaging any of those lines.

Locate the garden where a source of water is easily accessible. New transplants and young seedlings need consistent moisture until they’re established. During summer drought, water the bed thoroughly every week or so.

 

Sun or Shade?

 

 

Find an area that gets full sun if you want lots of flowers. Full sun is at least 6 hours, but annuals will positively thrive in more sun than that. Summer annuals blooming heavily in sun will attract the most pollinators.

But several species prefer shade, such as impatiens. The ‘Imara’ impatiens, resistant to impatiens downy mildew, provides a carpet of color under the trees and shrubs. This annual plant attracts bees and butterflies, and also hummingbirds.

Where summers aren’t too hot, fuchsia baskets (photo, above) entice the hummingbirds to visit every day, like clockwork. This plant does well in dappled shade or morning sun. And it likes moist soil. As the temperatures climb and fuchsia fails, hummingbirds flock to the single petunias and salvias, which need lots of sun. They also visit herbs in bloom, including basil and lavender.

 

How Big Is Big?

With proper soil preparation and regular maintenance, a plot that measures 10′ x 6′ can become a magnet for pollinating insects. The flowers will buzz with activity from perhaps dozens of species of bees and butterflies, and moths and hummingbirds, too.

This country is home to over 4,000 species of bees alone! More than 20,000 species live around the globe. Some live in colonies, and many are solitary creatures. Interestingly, the honey bee is not native to the United States. It was brought by European settlers hundreds of years ago and proliferated throughout the country.

To increase the activity and the number of pollinating species lured in, make the bed even larger. And include more variety in the plants selected. Use masses of the same plant, and repeat elsewhere in the garden, if possible. Planting larger blocks of a particular color or flower type will attract more pollinators than scattering them about.

If this is your first gardening effort, keep the garden a manageable size so you’re not overwhelmed. There will be maintenance involved! Weeds, no doubt, will have to be pulled. And your garden will need fertilizer a few times through the growing season for the best results. An inch or two of mulch moderates soil temperatures, retains moisture, and suppresses weeds. You can always expand the area as you gain confidence in your skills.

In One of My Gardens

***Update***: In early 2024, I germinated and planted a flat of wildflowers, comprising perennials and biennials. The 15′ x 6′ bed filled out beautifully, and this year I grew more wildflowers (from the same pack of seeds) for another section near the first one.

Well, the first bunch are in full bloom now—absolutely gorgeous and buzzing with little winged creatures. Lots of great spangled fritillary butterflies, with more species showing up daily. 5/28/2025

 

Container Gardens

Even in a very limited space, some of the local bees and butterflies will find the lovely combination pots on your balcony or the patio. Use bright colors, and have your camera ready—for the flowers and their visitors. Once they find their preferred flowers, pollinators will come back day after day.

Remove seedpods to encourage more flowers to develop, although finches and other birds will feed on seeds remaining on stalks late in the season. Fertilize regularly to keep the plants in prime condition. Plants in containers might need daily watering.

 

 

Headings

Page 1: National Pollinator Week, What Bees and Butterflies Need (The Missing Elements), A Garden of Annuals for Bees and Butterflies (What Is An Annual?, What Do Pollinators Do?, Cross Pollination, Single? Double? Or Triple Flowers?, Sunflowers, Where To Plant?, Sun or Shade?, How Big Is Big?, In One of My Gardens, Container Gardens)

Page 2: Added Benefits (Vegetables and Fruits, Braconid Wasps, For the Birds, Let ‘Em Seed About, Water, Cut Flowers, Try Some of These for the Bees and Butterflies), Perennial Favorites for Bees and Butterflies (Permanent Residents, More Perennials, Lavender, Herbs, The Apiaceae Family, The Lamiaceae Family)

Page 3: Brush Piles for Pollinators (Go Native), A Comprehensive Garden Plan (Dream, Plan, and Implement, On the Right Path, Stone, Diversify, Some Native Woody Plants, Asking for Help, Check With Local Sources, Dig In!, More Considerations, Small Is Beautiful), Links

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