As Digital Content Editor Christine Alexander explains, pollinators play a vital role in our ecosystem and we should all be doing our part to support their populations:
21.07.2023 - 22:25 / awaytogarden.com
LIKE A BEE buzzing a delicious flower, I’ve got my nose in a new little book from the Xerces Society called “100 Plants to Feed the Bees,” with the sub-headline “Provide a Healthy Habitat to Help Pollinators Thrive.”It begins with a dedication that includes these words:
“…to everyone who tears up their front yard to plant big chaotic wildflower gardens, to farmers who think hedgerows and wildflower field borders are just as important as crops, to urban planners and landscapers who turn gray and lifeless concrete landscapes into corridors of biodiversity…”
I think that dedication would make a good universal mandate, wouldn’t it?
To learn more about what makes a great pollinator plant, I called Matthew Shepherd, who has been with Xerces since 1999. He is their Communications Director, and has coauthored other Society publications, including their important “Pollinator Conservation Handbook.” Matthew is also a fellow gardener with an interest in creating gardens that provide for insects and other wildlife.
Read along as you listen to the Nov. 14, 2016 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).
my pollinator-plant q&a with xerces society’s matthew shepherdQ. Matthew, before we get started: For people who don’t know Xerces Society and its work, can you give us a picture of what you do?
A. We were founded in 1971, so we’re coming up for our 45th birthday. I’m sure many listeners have heard Robert Michael Pyle, the author and butterfly enthusiast. He’s the guy who had the idea for the Xerces Society when he was much younger—when we were all much younger.
At the time, there were other organizations doing
As Digital Content Editor Christine Alexander explains, pollinators play a vital role in our ecosystem and we should all be doing our part to support their populations:
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If you want to add natural beauty indoors with the perfect combination of colors, then check out these really amazing Pictures of the Best Foliage Plants for Containers!
A stroll through a boutique garden store might lead you to believe that filling a garden with happy, healthy plants is only for the well-heeled. But those very plants that have soaring price tags in the store might be yours for free if you are willing to be a little creative. If you are wondering how to get free plants, you’ve come to the right place. Read on for five tried-and-true paths that lead you to free garden plants.
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Native bees species (like the mining bee above on the wildflower boneset) don’t get as much attention, and other insect pollinators even less, but without our wild pollinators we’d enjoy far less biodiversity, both in plants and animals—because they’re key to the food web, which would otherwise break down. To get to know some of these unsung heroes and the critical roles they play, I spoke with Heather Holm, author of the book “Pollinators of Native Plants,” which teaches us how to identify and attract and appreciate them in our gardens and beyond. (Enter to wi
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