Thursday, June 24, 2010

Join the Pollinator Party!


This week is the 4th annual National Pollinator Week, designated as such by the United States Department of Agriculture to call attention to the declining populations of natural pollinators.  The decline is largely due to urbanization and use of chemicals.  Gardeners can help the plight of the pollinators by planting host plants and pledging to garden organically whenever possible.

In celebration of calling attention to the pollinators - bees, butterflies, beetles, birds, and bats - I'm showcasing some of them at work here at Our Little Acre:

Bumblebee heading for Perennial Foxglove


Great Spangled Fritillary on Echinacea


Question Mark resting on a stepping stone


Cabbage White on Calendula


Summer Azure on Knautia macedonica


Honeybee on Echinacea


Viceroy resting on the split-rail fence

There are other butterflies flying about here - Red Admiral, Monarch, Silver Skipper, Mourning Cloak, Sulphur, Red-Spotted Purple, Yellow Swallowtail - as well as insects and birds galore. I love how gardening makes you so much more aware of these things.

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This post was inspired by Barbara at Mr. McGregor's Daughter. Please visit her latest post, which shows more of the fabulous photography she shares with us on a regular basis.

8 comments:

Dirty Girl Gardening said...

Cool post! I'm loving the bumble bees flying around this year!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Marvelous photos of these oh so valuable pollinators.

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

Very nice! It is amazing when you take the time to look, just how many different pollinators you can find in the garden.

Liz said...

Amazing variety, I love that you are attracting the pollinators, I do the same - try my best to get the insects in or rather, provide food for them!

Marguerite said...

Fantastic photos! I can't get a single butterfly or even a bee to stay put for a minute while I take a picture. and so many different kinds. You're doing a great job of providing good plants for them obviously.

F Cameron said...

I am definitely a big fan of the pollinators! Our neighborhood feral honeybee hives collapsed last fall, but there's a new hive being built, so we're all hoping for success. It's been far too quiet in my garden this year.

The bumblebees go absolutely crazy for my hypericum 'Sun Pat'. It's a deciduous, shrub-like version of St. John's with fabulous blue foliage. It is planted in my butterfly garden with vitex, lantana, bronze fennel, milkweed and agastache -- a great gathering place for pollinators.

Freda

Lona said...

How beautiful Kylee. I would love to see a Question Mark butterfly here. They are marked so pretty.

Chiot's Run said...

I love spotting pollinators in the garden, we have all kinds.

Funny thing is we have 2 hives of honeybees in the back garden, but I rarely see them in our gardens. Mostly hummingbirds, bumblebees and tiny solitary bees.

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