Your Yard Can Be Beautiful and Nature Friendly – Why Not Add a Pollinator Garden???

It’s really good news that according to a recent survey of global consumers by Nielsen, 73% of consumers say that they would definitely or probably change their consumption habits to reduce their impact on the environment. And in a survey in May by Yale University here in America, 74% said climate change is happening and 62% agreed that global warming is mostly caused by human activity.

Climate change would certainly be hard to ignore with toxic algae bloom and dead fish in our beautiful Biscayne Bay, 560 wildfires burning in California and two storms, Laura and Marcos, headed to the Gulf coast as I write this in late August.

So what if we could do good for the planet and create beauty in our garden? We can do this with pollinator plants. And as a bonus—pollinator plants can be beautiful and NO CARE at the same time. Personally, I’ve always designed my garden so if I do nothing it looks fine and if I do something—like throw a bag of black kow composted cow manure on the antique roses—things look even better. Pollinator plants fit the bill. The ones I have in my garden bloom all the time and I do zero—watering, fertilizing—zero.

So what is a pollinator garden? A pollinator garden is one that supports bees, butterflies and other pollinating wildlife. It turns out that 75% of our crops producing fruit or seeds for food depend at least in part on pollinators. And, insects are the bottom of nature’s food chain and a primary food source for many fish, reptiles, birds and small mammals. 96% of our land birds feed their chicks insects according to the Florida Association of Native Nurseries.

Pollinators are essential for over 85% of the worlds flowering plants because they allow plants to reproduce. Yet throughout the world this vital group is in crisis. Habitat loss, fragmentation, and the wide spread use of chemical pesticides are threatening the insects, birds, and bats that are a crucial part of our ecosystems. So how about helping them out?!?

Encourage Your City and Your Neighbors To Go Pollinator

Take time to watch this wonderful video by Dr. Jaret Daniels of the University of Florida, “Creating Pollinator Pathways in the Built Environment”. Now since he is in north Florida the plants are wrong for here but its full of wonderful ideas for what we can do.

The Miami Blue chapter of the National Butterfly Association had identified 8 different species of butterflies in a lot that the city has purchased for a park at Bird and Toledo.
They approached the city about not mowing a 25’ circle and seeing which butterflies show up. And the city has agreed!! Actually this lot is almost a block by a half a block so there’s lots of room to put a tot lot, a pollinator corner and nice winding paths with bushes and benches if that’s what the neighborhood wants. KUDO’S to the city for all the nice parks they are putting in all over the city and being POLLINATOR FRIENDLY!!!