At first glance, a pollinator garden may look like any other pretty flower garden. However, for a garden to be a haven for native bees, butterflies, and moths, it needs to meet their needs for all life stages. The most important ingredients are plants rich in nectar and pollen to feed adult pollinators and host plants specific to butterfly species.
Here are simple guidelines for creating a pollinator garden that will reward you with three seasons of garden visitors and help protect these vulnerable insects.
Choose a Sunny Spot
Most blooming plants require sun. Four hours of sun is ideal, but a minimum of two to three hours will work too. Some great nectar and pollen plants thrive in part shade. Part shade is considered two hours of sun with dappled shade the rest of the day.
Plant Natives
Native plants support more than 29 times the number of insect species than non-native plants. Aim for at least 70% of native plants in your garden.
Indian blanket flowers
Plant Host Plants
Host plants are where the female butterfly will lay her eggs and her young caterpillars will feed. Some butterfly species – like the monarch and some swallowtails – only have one host plant. It is vital, therefore, to include some of these plants to support these species. By including these host plants, you’ll welcome more diversity into your garden.
Monarch caterpillar on a plant
Plant Variety & Protect Naturally
Adult bees and butterflies like some variety in their diet, just like us. By including different varieties of plants, your garden will attract a diverse assortment of pollinators. As you plant this beautiful garden, avoid using pesticides. Instead, opt for natural options that will not interrupt the lifecycle of the pollinators you’re attracting.
Plant for Three Seasons
Pollinators that overwinter in our area start emerging as the weather warms around late February to early March. As the weather turns cool in the winter, bees and butterflies go into hiding. As a general rule, they can’t fly when temperatures fall to 55 degrees. Bumblebees and some solitary bees will hibernate underground; other solitary bees will hibernate in nests they create in rock crevices and dead wood tunnels. For honeybees, only the queen hibernates while the rest buzz all winter, keeping the hive warm. The monarch butterfly is the only migrating butterfly in North America and usually leaves its overwintering site in central Mexico in March, returning in November. You can track their migration each season at journeynorth.org.
With pollinators active and in need of food spring through fall, it’s important that your garden provides blooms each season.
Plant in Dense Color Blocks
Go bold! Group a minimum of five to seven of the same plant to create large swaths of color in your garden. This helps pollinators find them. Dense planting has another advantage; when host plants are planted densely, young caterpillars have a better chance of survival by hiding from predators.
Butterfly and bee on a plant
Include a Puddle
If there’s a low area that holds water after rain in or near your pollinator garden, leave it! These “puddling” areas are great for providing certain butterfly species (like male common buckeyes) with necessary minerals and nutrients. You can create your own puddle by filling a shallow pan or plate with soil, some rocks, and pieces of a kitchen sponge and keeping it wet.
To avoid breeding mosquitoes, keep this puddle very shallow – less than an inch deep – or regularly treat with Mosquito Dunks®.
Butterflies in a shallow dish with gravel
Source: Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Durham County
Provide Shelter
Shelter can take various forms, such as a nearby fence or trellis, dense shrubbery, or a man-made bee house for solitary bees. It can also be as simple as leaving a pile of fallen leaves and pine needles in a nearby spot. Shelter provides safe places for caterpillars to pupate and for overwintering pollinators.
Important Note About Tropical Milkweed
If you already have tropical milkweed in your garden, be sure to cut it to four to six inches off the ground every October to prevent the spread of OE and interference with normal migratory behavior. Consider planting native varieties of milkweed.
For more information, contact the Environmental Services Department at enviro@thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov or 281-210-3800.