POLLINATOR GARDEN


One of the delights of the garden is watching hummingbirds and butterflies while listening to the humming of bees. These creatures perform an essential role in the garden as pollinators and many people have begun to create pollinator friendly gardens.  

Continue below to learn our tips for bringing more pollinators to your garden at home!
 

PLANTING A POLLINATOR GARDEN

Plants that attract the various pollinators vary greatly in appearance. This variation of colour & form can make for a very satisfying garden in summer. Most experts suggest a minimum of ten types of plants to keep pollinators coming back, but in honest anything we do in our gardens is a bonus for these small but very essential creatures.
 
  



BEES

Bees, on the other hand, are colour blind to red & zero in on the blue side of the spectrum: earlier in the year, lilacs & ceanothus & early campanulas.

In full summer, buddleia is always swarming with bees as are subshrubs such as rosemary, lavender, sage & thyme. Perennials such as veronica, delphinium & hardy geraniums are good bee plants, as are the scented verbena, agastache and anchusa.

Bees don't shun plants just because they aren't blue: both monarda (bee balm) and asclepias (butterfly weed) can & do attract lots of bees, as does eryngium (sea holly) and many annuals & biennials: cleome, cornflowers, snapdragons & foxglove are good examples.

 
 

 


HUMMINGBIRDS

Hummingbirds love red & if it’s red & tubular even more. Crocosmia, fuchsia, the huge tubes of lilies & the tiny ones of centranthus (Jupiter's Beard) as well as honeysuckle & penstemon. They also enjoy albizzia (the tree) and such annuals/tender perennials as firecracker plant, petunias & callibrachoe.

While they don't only feed from red flowers, an abundance of red or deep pink in the garden will keep them coming back; they then zip around the garden seeing if there is anything for a second course.

Hummingbirds serve double duty in our gardens, they also catch insects on the wing: flies, gnats & mosquitoes; their favourites being spiders and daddy long legs. 
 
  

 


BUTTERFLIES

Butterflies happily trip back & forth between the two colours, adding yellow & white to the mix. They prefer flat flowers: achillea, eryngium, echinacea & rudbeckia; but still they share with hummingbirds a love of centranthus & with bees a love of buddleia & lavender.

Such strong scented plants as nepeta (catmint) lemon balm, mint, monarda & hyssop attract not only bees & butterflies but many of the lesser pollinators & helpful insects such as parasitic wasps.  

If you plant a few night blooming plants: evening primrose, phlox or cardinal flower, you will also be providing food for nocturnal moths; some of these are incredibly lovely.

 
  

WATERING & OTHER NEEDS FOR POLLINATORS

Similarly, bees need more than just nectar: the right housing can increase the number of kinds of bees that come to the garden: in BC our gardens can attract honeybees, mason bees, leaf cutter bees as well as bumble bees to mention just a few.   Some of these are ground nesting and are very important pollinators.  They are not aggressive, stinging only in self defense.   For these bees it is good to leave a bare (uncultivated) area of soil, which remains fairly dry.  Some hornets & wasps also nest in the ground, and they DO sting!!!  Its important to learn to tell the difference between a bee and a wasp before leaving or destroying that nest.

All bees also need a source water: any shallow container with pebbles or twigs as landing sites (changed daily) will keep the entire hive healthy. Butterflies will also take advantage of this "pool".  Hummingbirds prefer to fly through a daytime sprinkler for a bath, or else sit in the rain with their wings open "bathing"' They drink dew in the morning but will drink from a shallow birdbath with a very narrow rim.
 
  







TOUR OUR POLLINATOR GARDEN VIDEO

This year we decided to start our very own Pollinator Garden at the nursery to help teach our customers more about pollinators and all the positive things they do for us.

Our goal is to show how easy it is, and that even planting a few things in your garden can go a long way in attracting more bees, hummingbirds & butterflies.
 

  

 


SEPTEMBER IN THE POLLINATOR GARDEN

BLOG POST

The days are unmistakably shortening. We are heading breakneck towards the equinox (Sept. 23), and after that, we embark upon the triumph of the night and the days begin to shorten.

- Marian Vaughan
 

 

 



LATE SUMMER FOR POLLINATORS


Make sure you stop by our Pollinator Garden next time you are at the nursery to see its progress and to catcg a glimpse of these incredible creatures in action.
 

   

 



PERENNIALS IN BLOOM

Crocosmia (Red), Echinacea (Purple) & Rudbeckia (Yellow) attract pollinators during the warm summer months and into early fall.

All three are great for a sunny location in the garden and provide a long season of colour. 
 

 
 

ATTRACT POLLINATORS TO YOUR GARDEN WITH





FRUIT TREES
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BUDDLEIA / BUTTERFLY BUSH
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LILAC
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FOXGLOVE / DIGITALIS
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ALBIZIA / MIMOSA TREE
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FUSCHIA
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PETUNIAS
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BOUGAINVILLEA
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WEIGELA
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ECHINACEA / CONEFLOWER
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KNIFOPHIA / RED HOT POKER
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AZALEA
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