A pollinator paradise
A pollinator paradise
Do your part to create a space for bees, butterflies and other ecologically important creatures
Leo Creek PreserveThe Leo Creek Preserve, a nine-acre green space in the Village of Suttons Bay north of Traverse City, includes a pollinator garden.
When it comes to creating an appetizing backyard habitat for bees, butterflies and other pollinators, MSU Extension’s Senior Horticulture Educator Rebecca Finneran borrows an expression from the 1989 Kevin Costner classic, “Field of Dreams”: If you build it, they will come.
“Habitat is habitat,” said Finneran. “It doesn’t have to be a pollinator garden. Our entire landscape can be a pollinator garden.”
Still, if you want to do your part to help the pollinators upon which our food chain relies, there are ways to do it and it’s about being thoughtful and intentional with what you plant. Use a mix of plants that bloom throughout the year, from spring to late fall, and steer clear of too much mulch and especially pesticides, experts say.
“The more things we offer, and the sequence of the offerings, is really important,” said Finneran. “You want to make sure you have flowers blooming from early spring to fall.”
Luckily, more and more home gardeners are doing their part to help pollinators. June 21-27 is Pollinator Week.
“The good guys are the bees and I think people are being a lot more careful about creating a habitat and having very diverse floral resources,” said Finneran. “They’re being a lot more careful about not using herbicides or insecticides on their lawn. That’s where pollinators might be feeding on a clover or dandelion.”
Pollinators aren’t just bees, though bees are our powerhouse pollinators. According to the Pollinator Partnership, pollination occurs when pollen is moved within flowers or carried from flower to flower by pollinating animals such as birds, bees, bats, butterflies, moths, beetles, or other animals, or even by the wind.
Beyond planting diverse floral resources, just embracing imperfection a bit can help pollinators, says Brian Peterson-Roest, the founder of Bees in the D, which maintains urban bee hives all over Detroit.
“So often we are so concerned about having the perfectly groomed yards and gardens, but let some of those weeds grow in your grass,” said Peterson-Roest. “Let an area go a little more natural” to help pollinators.
Bees abound
People often think of honeybees when they think of pollinators but there are actually more than 450 species of native bees that live in Michigan, according to Finneran. Native bees come in a variety shapes and sizes and are often adapted to prefer native trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. Honeybees are native to Europe.
Finneran suggests dividing the growing season into several parts — early, primetime and late show — and picking plants that will bloom for each part.
Lupine is a good choice for spring as is Allium ‘Purple Sensation,’ said Finneran. By the time primetime hits, bees love coneflower, peonies and Allium ‘Millenium.’ Mid-season, traditional perennial border plants such as sneezeweed, globe thistle and blazing star offer great opportunities for many pollinators to forage, she said.
By the time fall approaches, think sedum and snakeroot.
It’s all about being “mindful of spacing things out and offering” a variety, said Finneran.
Challenges
Pollinators have been hit hard by a number of challenges. According to Rochester Pollinators, a group established in 2019 to restore native plants in the landscape and help pollinators, pollinators have experienced a 40% decline across the globe. The monarch butterfly population alone has decreased up to 75%-90% in the last 20 years.
A number of factors are to blame: habitat loss, increased pesticide use and diseases. Peterson-Roest has seen the challenges bees face firsthand. Once hit hard by colony collapse disorder, bees now have to deal with Varroa destructor mites. They are a type of parasite that lives on bees “They are really devastating hives and weakening them in the winter,” he said.
Peterson-Roest, who also is a fifth grade teacher in Rochester, got into beekeeping more than 13 years ago. Though he was always a nature lover, he says, he knew nothing about bees until a science consultant for his school district asked if he’d like to attend a beekeeping program on Beaver Island to learn ways to introduce it into his curriculum. He attended and found a new passion: bees. “I fell in love with it,” he said.
Today, he and his husband, Brian, and a team of volunteers maintain nearly 200 hives in more than 60 spots all over southeast Michigan, some on top of buildings in downtown Detroit. They also do educational presentations. What people don’t realize is how much pollinators such as bees impact all aspects of the food chain. “Scientists say that one in every three bites of food, we’re relying on pollinators,” said Peterson-Roest. “It’s not just apples, blueberries and almonds The bees pollinate the alfalfa. Our dairy, our meat and food chain all are impacted by bees.” Besides planting the right mix of plants, another way to help bees and other pollinators is reduce your use of pesticides and fungicides, he said. Finneran says insecticides are the worst. Read labels carefully, she said. “That’s not to say all pesticides are bad but they all have a label that have instructions about pollinators on them,” she said.
Native plants
Another element to keep in mind in creating your own pollinator garden: native plants. Native plants are plants that are already acclimated to Michigan’s soil, climate and water levels, making them drought and freeze resistant. Native plants to Michigan include Bee balm, Purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan and swamp milkweed. “These plants, because they’re native, they’re amazing,” said Marilyn Trent of Rochester Pollinators. “They don’t need pesticides or herbicides. They don’t need fertilizer. They don’t need that much water once they’re established.” Finneran, meanwhile, suggests planting a mix of native plants and other plants. Native plants can be hard to find at local nurseries. Rochester Pollinators will be selling them Saturday and June 12 at the Rochester Farmers Market. “You don’t have to have all native plants,” she said. “Diversity is the key.” In the end, it’s all about being an ally. “The more people learn about pollinators – and in particular bees – the less afraid they are,” said Finneran.
The Detroit News
4 Jun 2021
MAUREEN FEIGHAN Detroit News Design Writer
