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:
“Pollinators play an integral part in the food chain that we simply cannot replicate for impact. They affect all living things, from the green growing variety on up to us bipeds. There’s no beating around the bush—pollinators = food. So whenever you see a happy little bee nosing around your flowers, tip your hat and say thank you very much for their service.”
Whether you have the space to create an expansive, pollinator-friendly landscape or just enough room to pot up a couple plants that are pollinator favorites, we can all do our part in helping these beneficial bugs. A good place to start is seeking out the plants that support the pollinators native to our area. To aid in that search, we asked regional experts to share some of the best pollinator plants for their region. Below, you’ll find four picks for the Southern Plains. To learn even more about gardening for pollinators, check out Gardening for Pollinators: Everything You Need to Know and Grow for a Gorgeous Pollinator Garden.
Zones: 5–8
Size: 1 to 2 feet tall and wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; dry to medium soil
Native range: Southern and central United States
Foxglove penstemon emulates spring excitement when it pops up. Showy, large, tubular flowers stand out in a variety of colors. The blooms range from white to pinks and purples. True to its name, the plant resembles the more widely recognized foxglove (Digitalis purpurea, Zones 4–8), but it brings the many benefits of a native plant. This perennial is the larval host for the dotted checkerspot butterfly and attracts a wide
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Many gardeners adore the tasty pods and numerous culinary applications of okra, a warm-season vegetable. However, like all plants, okra can benefit from the presence of other plants in the garden. In this article, we will explore some of the Best Companion Plants for Okra.
Just over a year ago, when we were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing, I talked about the lack of diversity in space and mentioned Mary Jackson. In 2016, the movie Hidden Figures shared the stories of Mary Jackson and two other Black female mathematicians – Katherine Johnson and, Dorothy Vaughan. They worked at NASA when a ‘computer’ still meant a person carrying out mathematical calculations. The film is based on a book by Margot Lee Shetterly, which I am reading at the moment. The book offers a more detailed and accurate account of the prejudice these women (and others) had to overcome.
Continuing my research into which of NASA’s African American astronauts are space gardeners, I turned my attention to the second name on the (alphabetical) list: Guion Stewart Bluford Jr.
The elm zigzag sawfly (Aproceros leucopoda, SLF) is one of the latest non-native species to take hold in the U.S. It was first found in Virginia in 2021, and active infestations are now established in Maryland, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. EZS has not been detected in South Carolina, but it is an insect for which we need to be on the lookout.
Sunflowers are big, bold, and beautiful, with bright yellow petals and a dark center that seems to stare straight at the sun. In this article, we will explore the Giant Sunflower Varieties out there!
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:
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: