INTRODUCTION

Red admiral butterflies work efficiently over the tiny florets of these alliums.

As I went through the checkout line at Whole Foods the other day, I noticed bags of “pollinator-friendly” almonds for sale. I smiled to myself. Who would have predicted that product ten years ago, or who would have known what that slogan even meant? There has been a seismic shift in attitude toward the creatures responsible for a huge portion of our food supply. Champions of organic food and agro-friendly food, farm, and garden practices are making people more aware of pollinators and the threats they face than ever before, so it’s a crucial time to build on that message and encourage the creation of pollinator-friendly gardens. It starts with changing peoples’ mindset about “bugs.”

I’ve been gardening all my life, though I wasn’t always cognizant of the contribution pollinators made to the process. You might say my interest and concern for pollinators came about by happy accident—although I like to think my gardening practices were already evolving in that direction, it was one random moment that put this passion into focus.

One day I sat down on the bench to rest after a sweaty session of weeding in my Kansas kitchen garden. I looked around and wondered about the garden’s future now that the kids would soon leave for college. This garden had been the epicenter of my horticultural and maternal urges—the need to grow and cook—for ten years.

It was the longest I had ever gardened in one location. The picket-fenced plot was the culmination of my gardening ambitions after a lifetime of planting in fits and starts, first with a nomadic family, and then later because of my husband’s job, a fast-paced position that transferred us around the country and overseas.

Our time in England proved transformative for my garden aspirations. Sure, there were the spectacular estate gardens, and everyone seemed to have beautiful perennial borders or at least fabulous hanging baskets. But it was their humble kitchen gardens that stole my heart. All that talk about bad British food vanished when newfound friends offered up gifts from their gardens: a sack of baby potatoes still crusted with bits of earth; a bundle of asparagus; a punnet of soft, sweet, no-sugar-needed strawberries. I knew when I got the chance to garden again I wanted what they were having.

Arriving back in the US, I went to work crafting my own version of this artful, edible landscape. The neighbors wondered aloud as the foursquare beds appeared in our front yard. Was it a pet cemetery, a formal rose garden? What, no hostas? When they saw I planned to feed my family from this very visible veggie garden, opinions were mixed. I ignored them and set about on a steep learning curve.

Determined to do well with this pretty plot, I devoured gardening books and became certified as a Master Gardener. There was so much still to learn about soil, seed starting, fertilizers, and pest control. Any mention of wildlife or insects in the garden was framed in negative terms: greedy birds, ravenous rabbits, voracious worms, stinging wasps, and those troublesome ants. There were brief discussions on pollination in connection with fruit trees, but much more detailed information on fungus, rust, scab, and galls.

Trees such as willow, ash, cottonwood, and birch are larval hosts for butterflies.

I’d never really thought much about insects or pests in the garden before. I was a keen observer of nature but I had never ventured an interest in invertebrates. When I thought of wildlife in the garden, my thinking mostly centered on larger living things—birds, turtles, the occasional chipmunk, perhaps a few conspicuous butterflies.

Back on the garden bench I was still pondering where I would direct my need to nurture with this empty nest. I paused and heard a humming sound and glanced over at a number of bees buzzing as they worked intently on the flowers I had planted between rows of kale and peppers for ornamental effect. A few butterflies fluttered, too. It was like I had never really seen them before. I hate to use the term aha moment, but it was indeed that.

Wanting to learn more about the role of insects in my garden, I came upon Sally Jean Cunningham’s Great Garden Companions, a book written by another Master Gardener. Though the book was about companion planting, more strikingly it introduced me to the world of beneficial insects.

I had read other books about companion planting, but found the tales more colorful folklore than fact. With respect to generations of gardeners before me, I wanted to know the science behind the theory, when the concepts really worked, and when they were based solely upon anecdotal evidence. As I grew into my role as an Extension Master Gardener, I had grown to appreciate research-based gardening information. With so much at stake—the investment of time, perspiration, and money—I wanted my gardening efforts as well as others’ in the community to always be a successful, sustainable experience.

I added more blooming plants to my kitchen garden to specifically attract beneficials—the tiny wasps and flies, lumbering beetles, and roving spiders would keep garden pests in check while adding a certain liveliness to my food-growing efforts. Beneficial bugs proved to be the gateway drug that fueled my passion for pollinators. I embraced the idea (contrary to conventional thought) that a healthy, productive garden shouldn’t be bug-free but rather have lots and lots of these creatures performing countless helpful tasks for free.

It was a short leap from beneficial insect believer to bee watcher. Instead of seeing generic bees, I began to differentiate honeybees, fat bumblebees, iridescent green sweat bees, and many others. Butterflies, too, floated over the garden, lingering longer to drink nectar and lay eggs. I discovered this entire microcosm of a much larger habitat whirring right along inside my picket fence.

My yard faced a well-trafficked road that was a popular shortcut to the mall. People in passing cars began to yell at me, but they were nice things such as, “Love your yard,” and “I pass here on purpose.” Overall, the more I made the yard better for wildlife and pollinators, the more beautiful and interesting it became.

And then we had to move again.

A few years ago I saw a picture of our old house on Facebook, but something didn’t look right. Friends hadn’t had the heart to tell me about the changes, however, and I learned the new owners had built a second garage directly on top of my kitchen garden. They had also torn out many of the pollinator-friendly perennials and shrubs I planted. It was a personal example of habitat destruction, the kind that pollinators face every day on a much grander scale.

It seems there’s always more discouragement:

• My favorite place to walk the dog—a scrubby lot full of wildflowers where we flushed countless fluttering butterflies—has fallen to development. What’s left beyond the building’s footprint is now covered in asphalt and narrow strips of sod.

• Concerned calls come into to the Extension hotline, and homeowners ask Where are the bees? The buds on their apple trees languish without pollination.

• There are reports of bee kills in neighborhood hives due to pesticide drift.

• Driving through the country, my husband remarks how clean the farm fields are compared to when he was a boy, now planted to the very edge and weed-free.

And that’s just a few incidents in my world. I’m sure you can cite examples of habitat destruction and pollinator loss in your neighborhood as well.

Multiply incidents like those thousands of times over. Shortsighted development, damaging farming practices, irresponsible pesticide application, and other issues permeate our communities and gardens, and it’s easy to see we are crowding out or killing keystone species crucial to the functioning of entire ecosystems. Then throw in disease and parasites that also threaten their existence. Bees and other pollinators may be small in size, but their significance and our interdependence is beyond scope.

As I write this book, it seems the world is filled with so much brutality and uncertainty. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless in the face of so many big issues. Next to climate change, world hunger and war, gardening can seem like a frivolous activity.

Yet pollinator conservation is one global issue gardening can reshape in a huge way. No one garden can solve the pollinator problem, but small changes in thousands, maybe millions of gardens can have an enormous impact when you choose to support these vital creatures. Welcoming pollinators will not only add vigor to your food and flower gardens, it will fill your life with color, sound, movement, and most of all, joy.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Many recent books about pollinators read like entomology textbooks or native-plants-only manifestoes. They don’t always take into account gardeners’ busy lives or everyday gardening realities.

This book aims to inspire and educate people who want to make meaningful changes, no matter how small or grand, and to help welcome and support pollinators in their gardens. Although it’s a great guide for beginning gardeners as well as seasoned ones, it’s not just for gardeners:

• Parents, teachers, youth leaders, and homeschoolers will find it a valuable resource that translates pollinator conservation into basic concepts that can be easily included in student curricula.

• Backyard naturalists, citizen scientists, and birdwatchers will find the information helpful to their observations and activities.

• Church groups can use the knowledge for community garden and environmental stewardship programs.

• Homebuilders and architects can learn more about landscaping geared to pollinator preservation.

• For those working on a larger scale, the book can be a leaping-off point for city councils, homeowners’ associations, and even farmers.

• Golf course and cemetery groundskeepers may find it useful.

• Who knows—maybe beekeepers might learn a thing or two they didn’t know before?

Pollinator Friendly Gardening offers three basic principles to support pollinators in your garden: provide food with blooming plants throughout the season; allow for nesting and overwintering sites; and finally, avoid pesticide use. By making the science behind pollinator behavior accessible, this book simplifies the steps to creating healthy habitats for these important creatures.

This book is intended for folks who want to help pollinators without necessarily ripping out their landscapes and starting over as some would demand. Use it to evaluate your existing landscape. Chances are you’re doing many things right already. Then follow as many suggestions as you want to build upon that success and further improve pollinator conditions over time as your schedule and pocketbook permit.

It’s for people who want to plant for pollinators without offending the neighbors or violating homeowner covenants and local laws. Many may worry that attracting bees to their property or using native plants will upset the neighbors who prefer manicured shrubs and lawns. Pollinator Friendly Gardening offers appealing design suggestions that merit praise rather than HOA fines. It gives information about bee identification and behavior that when shared can hopefully calm the neighbors’ fears.

This book seeks to encourage pollinator conservation by offering easy, practical tips for enhancing your garden habitat so that it’s enjoyable for both you and the vital creatures that share the space. Pollinator Friendly Gardening doesn’t judge—there’s no pressure to plant outside your comfort zone. Even a more conventional garden can still sustain pollinators with a bit of thought and ingenuity.

Pollinator Friendly Gardening presents effective alternatives to the pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides that endanger pollinators. It also identifies the criteria for when their use is warranted and describes rules for subsequent safe application. It hopes to help gardeners untangle the issues with invasive plants. Learn when weeds are worrisome and when they can be wonderful.

The plant lists read like a catalog of greatest hits in support of bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Everything from the best bee perennials to the best trees for butterflies (trees! who knew?) and beyond provide hundreds of potential plants for your pollinator gardens. And that’s just a starting point!

Resources are provided for people seeking more specialized information, as well as a vendor list of businesses selling bees and accessories and pollinator-friendly seeds and plants.

Last, Pollinator Friendly Gardening is a call to action. Hopefully you’ll be inspired not only to support pollinators in your own garden but in the greater community. It provides examples of citizen science programs around the country adding to the buzz for protecting pollinators, some literally sowing the seeds of change upon their local landscapes.

Whether you plant a few extra flowers this year or join a movement, when it comes to pollinators, every effort helps.