As vegetable gardeners are getting excited and prepared for this year’s growing season, let’s not forget how important flowers are for our pollinating friends. There are a variety of approaches and styles you can embrace for your floral landscape, but I say, if we’re going to plant flowers, how about we plant flowers in a way that support our pollinating insects as well. Why should we care about pollinating insects, here’s why.

Humans consistently plant, grow, and harvest approximately 1400 different plants for food and plant-based industrial products. 80% of those plants require pollination. If that weren’t enough, over 50% of our edible fats and oils also come from pollinated plants while almost every fruit and grain crop also require pollination. As you can see, we need our pollinators. Because of this, many homeowners are shifting the way they approach their lawns and landscapes.

You have probably seen articles or news stories about individuals who are abandoning their desire for a well-manicured lawn in favor of a more natural habitat. While this approach can cause difficulties between the homeowner and their homeowner associations, it’s pretty easy for us to change the way we approach our flower gardens without ruffling many neighborly feathers. We can do this by working to create a pollinator garden. Pollinator gardens include plants that provide nectar as well as plants that can serve host to the insect’s larvae.

Nectar is the liquid that provides food and fuel for our insects. Nectar plants are most of the ones we are familiar with such as Columbine, Yarrow, Aster, Agastache, False Indigo, Ageratum, Coreopsis, Echinacea, Joe Pye Weed and a host of others.

However, if you want more butterflies in your yard, plant some larvae friendly plants know as host plants. The pollinators may come to your yard for a snack, but they’ll call the garden that provides a place for their babies their home. One challenge for gardeners is that we plant host plants with full knowledge that these host plants will be eaten by the larvae of our pollinators. Good host plants would include dill, fennel, parsley, chives, and milkweed. Host plants aren’t typically as showy or colorful as many of our flowering plants, so you might want to consider a special area of your garden for these plants. As for me, I like to intermingle nectar and larval host plants. But you be you.

When making planting decisions for your pollinator plants, plan on planting your flowers in larger groupings of the same plants rather than scattering them throughout your garden. Larger groupings allow the pollinating insects to conserve energy by not having to travel greater distances between flowers to meet their nutritional needs. Plus, if they can get all they need to eat from your garden, where do you think they will like to hang out?

You’ll also want to factor in blooming time for your plants. In pollinator gardens we try to provide a place that supports the pollinators throughout the season. Some flowers bloom early and then are done, some bloom all season long, and some wait till later in the season to show us their stuff, so as you build out your pollinator garden, try to include plants that will collectively provide a season-long food source.

Shelter for your pollinator insects is something else to consider. And by shelter I don’t mean something like a bird house etc., but a larger shrub where they can seek refuge in a storm or escape from a predator. Honeysuckle would be a good example of a shelter plant with the added bonus that it also provides nectar.

It’s also good to consider the water needs of your pollinators. We can do this with something called a pudler. A pudler is like a bird bath but shallower. You’ll want to place a few rocks in it to give the pollinators something to stand upon while getting a drink.

Pollinator feeders are also a great way to supplement their food needs and attract pollinators to your garden. Pollinator feeders can be as simple as a tray type bird feeder but instead of filling it with bird seed, provide over-ripe bananas or sliced oranges as a food source. The rinds of melons also work well for this purpose.

Believe it or not, larger rocks are also a great addition to a pollinator garden. Butterflies can only fly when warm enough and these rocks provide a good spot for them to warm up so they can take flight again. Plus, rocks in your garden provide not only a place for you to sit and enjoy your garden but can add interest to your garden as well.

In the last few years, we have been hearing more and more about native plants. Native plants are just what they sound like, plants that are native to our area. Pollinator insects are naturally familiar with these plants. Native plants would include Echinacea/Coneflower, Gaillardia, Guara, Blackfoot Daisy, Coreopsis, Wild Indigo, False Indigo, and Rudbeckia to name a few. And let’s not forget Butterfly and Common Milkweed as the singular host plants for Monarch butterfly larvae. There are many more native plants that would be appropriate for your pollinator garden, and we have more information on our website in the Lawn and Garden Help Section/Flowers. See you in the pollinator garden!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: OSU Ag. Communications