Not many of us realize the different kinds of food that need pollinators to help them grow and reproduce. Nourishing juices frequently consumed at breakfast include apple, orange, grapefruit, and cranberry, all of which need pollinators to sustain the fruit on trees or to grow in sandy bogs or marshes. Other drinks include almond milk, coffee and even milk. We all know cows produce milk, but they need to be fed alfalfa, which depends on pollinators for growth. Got milk? Not without alfalfa!
Many…..
Do you know what your ecoregion is? Well I didn’t either until I started surfing around on www.pollinator.org. Under the tab of Planting Guides, I simply inserted my zipcode to discover I live in the ecoregion of Prairie Parkland (Temperate) Province in the United States. Just one more click and I entered into a table of contents with a wealth of information about this particular region as it relates to the need for us all to help sustain our vital pollinators. As the co-founder…..
Now that you’ve decided to step up to the plate and help our vital pollinators, I’ll provide you with some ideas for planting habitat that will attract them to your surroundings. When one thinks about it, these critters are not that choosey. They will be drawn to their habitat on every type of landscape you could offer them. Window boxes, planters on the deck or porch, community and individual gardens, corporate campuses, roadside medians, utility corridors, schools, city parks,…..
“Protect their lives. Preserve ours.”
When I ponder that statement from Pollinator Partnership, it’s pretty profound to think that the possibility of human extinction is tied to something as small as a bee or a butterfly. But it’s true. Their sole purpose for survival is so that pollination occurs, providing humans with necessary crops of fruits and vegetables for our own survival.
The mission of Pollinator Partnership is ‘to promote the health of pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conservation, education and…..
Blogs written about monarch butterflies end with today’s post. I hope by now you are on board with the desire to do something within your own garden or yard to assist with the current plight of this species of butterfly. If you act upon that desire, you will be pleasantly surprised to find not only monarch’s flitting about your yard but many different types of butterflies, bees, birds and other critters as well.
First, choose a nice sunny location in which…..
After reading my previous blogs, I trust by now you understand what is happening to milkweed, why we and monarch butterflies need it, and where to find it in order to plant in your own garden. This blog post will enlighten you to the dangers of handling milkweed. As I am no expert, I have used various websites for information to pass along to you, such as monarchwatch.org.
Be sure to wear disposable gloves when handling milkweed plants since it’s white, milky…..
I hope that those of you who read my previous blog have begun searching for milkweed seeds in your area, which are available for purchase year round. Now that spring is here, you will begin to find more milkweed plants for sale through the rest of the summer. Be sure to research which ones are hardy for your area and learn about any potential issues before you plant any non-native milkweed. With campaigns underway to restore native milkweed, the Internet has a…..
As promised in my previous blog, I am giving you ideas about where to obtain milkweed seeds and plants. Since seeds will take longer than established plants to germinate and grow, this blog covers seeds. My next blog, On a Mission for the Monarchs cont’d, I will share information on where to find established milkweed plants.
Now is a perfect time to find milkweed seeds at local garden centers or you can order them online. It takes several weeks in order to get your…..
“Monarch butterfly populations have plummeted 90 percent in 20 years. More than a billion acres of their crucial habitat has already been destroyed and a million acres are lost every year,” as quoted from a recent email I received as a member of National Wildlife Federation. So what, you say? What can I do to change that? Well, read on.
Living in the Midwest, I am sharing with you a few of the native milkweed plants that grow well in this…..
My recent Blog was about the worrisome loss of monarch butterflies, a very important pollinator. According to an online brochure produced on www.epa.gov, “Approximately 1 out of every 3 bites of food you eat comes from the work of a pollinating animal, including many garden fruits and vegetables. Pollinators are also vital for the production of seeds for the next generation for many plant species. Many blooming plants depend upon pollination for their survival.” I’m certainly concerned about this and hope you…..
