New Short Video Shows Pollinators

New short video shows pollinators.

Pollinators remain an important contributor in any garden. According to the New England Wild Flower Society, eighty percent of flowering plants depend on pollination. Yet organic farmer Jane Sorenson from River Barry Farm in Fairfax, Vermont says, “There are fewer bugs today than only a few years ago.”

That is all the more reason today to plant a pollinator-friendly garden. Pollinators include more than butterflies and birds, according to entomologist and author Eric Grissell.

Pollinators also include ants, wasps, and, of course, bees. Grissell writes in his book Bees, Wasps, and Ants, “It seems as if the usual state of human affairs is at work: an attraction for the bright, shiny aspects of nature in preference to the bugs that do the basic work of keeping our gardens functioning as nature meant them to.”

In April 1879 Rochester, New York seedsman James Vick wrote in his garden magazine Vick’s Illustrated Monthly , “Most of our garden flowers are honey-producing, as well as many of our wild plants and weeds. The main question is, what can we plant to produce the most food for bees, at the least expense.” He made a point then, which remains relevant today as well.

Plant for bloom of some sort during the whole gardening season. Use plants that provide nectar and pollen sources like annuals, perennials, shrubs, both native and exotic.

Situate the garden in a sunny area with windbreaks.

Provide where possible a water source like a birdbath. Pollinators do not live by nectar alone. They need water and shelter as well as food, and food requirements differ depending on the life stage of the pollinator.

Finally, pesticides can create problems in a pollinator-garden. Eliminate or minimize the impact of any pesticide in the garden.

Providing for pollinators doesn’t have to be complicated. Most of the plants you could use are available at a local nursery and easy to maintain.

After you plant your pollinator-friendly garden, register it online with the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge, a nationwide call to action.

Diane Blazek, Executive Director of the National Garden Bureau and one of the founders of the Challenge, says, “Once you plant it. Share it. A garden can be an acre, or a container, as long it includes a pollinator-friendly plant.”

Here is the new short video called “The Beauty of Pollination.” Enjoy.

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