attracting pollinators – Center for Urban Agriculture

Pollinator Week 2017

June 21, 2017 by Becky Griffin

It is Pollinator Week 2017! Since last year the rusty patched bumble bee has been put on the Endangered Species List and honey bee keepers in the United States reported hive losses of 33% over 2016-17. How can the average Georgia gardener help our pollinators? These steps are easy and will make a real difference to our pollinating insects:

Read Georgia’s Pollinator Protection Plan

University of Georgia entomologists collaborated with stakeholders across the state to develop Protecting Georgia’s Pollinators. There is a role for every Georgia citizen whether you are a farmer, a landscaper, or a homeowner.

Plant Flowering Plants

Adding flowering plants to your food garden attracts pollinators and as a bonus can also attract other beneficial insects. To attract butterflies, adding plants that sustain the caterpillar stage of the butterfly is important. The University of Georgia has done research on pollinator plants and has suggestions for plants that do well in our climate.

There are many pollinator plants that thrive in our Georgia climate.

Plan for a Succession of Bloom

Strive to have plants flowering as much of the year as possible. Even during the winter months if temperatures rise above 50 F, bumble bees and honey bees are flying and looking for nectar and pollen.

Winter Honeysuckle (*Lonicera fragrantissima*) is not a true honeysuckle and blooms in the winter months.

Create a Water Source

Adding pebbles or stones to your birdbath makes a wonderful water source for small insects with delicate legs. By cleaning the birdbath once a week you will avoid any mosquito problems. If you don’t have a birdbath the drainage pans used to catch the water running out of potted plants can be used.

Wisely Use Any Pesticide

Examine your use of any pesticide. Is the pesticide really necessary? Your UGA Extension agent can assist you with any pest situation and guide you in deciding if a pesticide is the best answer. Make sure you thoroughly read and follow any pesticide label. The label is the law.

Have Your Garden Certified as a Georgia Pollinator Space

The Georgia Pollinator Spaces program is an initiative designed to recognize gardeners that consciously make an effort to improve pollinator health by creating pollinator habitat. To get inspiration take a look at some of the gardens that are part of the program.

However you decide to celebrate Pollinator Week be sure to check our daily pollinator posts on the UGA Community and School Garden Facebook page.

Happy Pollinator Week!

Earth Week 2016

June 2, 2016April 20, 2016 by Becky Griffin

Happy Earth Week 2016. How are you celebrating?

I am celebrating with the butterflies and bees! As the force behind the Pollinator Spaces Project I decided I needed to step up the pollinator habitat in my own garden in time for Earth Week 2016. In one part of the garden I added three baby sage (Salvia microphylla ‘Hot Lips’) plants. I have always loved the bi-colored flowers and they really attract butterflies.

This is the Year to Add Pollinator Spaces to Your Garden

March 9, 2016 by Becky Griffin

Adding pollinator spaces to your community or school garden is a fabulous idea. If you are a food grower, more pollinators means more pollination and increased food production! Even if you aren’t growing food the benefits of attracting native bees, butterflies, and even honey bees are numerous.

This is the Year to Add Pollinator Spaces to Your Garden — Honey bee on winter honeysuckle

UGA’s Center for Urban Agriculture has created the Pollinator Spaces Project. The mission is to make it easy to add pollinator habitat to any sized garden. The process is easy:

Step #1 Learn

Learn about pollinators and pollinator plants using the Pollinator Spaces Project webpage. The page includes a research-based plant list as well as links to pollinator events around the state and instructions on building bee homes and butterfly puddles.

Step #2 Create

Create your pollinator space. Your garden can be as simple or as detailed as you want to make it.

Step #3 Share

Once your garden is complete and blooming send Becky Griffin (beckygri@uga.edu), our community and school garden coordinator, a photo of your new space. Be creative. If you work in a school garden, get your students in the picture. When sending your photograph include some information about your garden. You will then receive a beautiful certificate acknowledging your participation in this part of Georgia pollinator history.

At the end of 2016 we will create a map of Georgia showing the new pollinator spaces and we will design a storyboard telling the story of the project. We will also feature new garden spaces during the year on our UGA Community and School Gardens Facebook page.

During the year we will be sharing pollinator facts, tips, and information through the webpage and the Facebook page. So stay tuned!

Make 2016 the year YOU help pollinators by adding a pollinator space to your garden. For more information about the project contact Becky at beckygri@uga.edu. If you want more information on creating a garden unique to your area your local UGA Extension agent is a great resource.

Happy Gardening!

Pollinator Protection Plan for Georgia

January 20, 2016 by Becky Griffin

Because of real concerns about our pollinator population the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asked each state to develop a customized pollinator protection plan with recommendations on improving pollinator health. This is not a regulatory document but just guidelines to help our pollinators.

Georgia’s plan is finished! Protecting Georgia’s Pollinators (PGP) was developed as a joint effort between UGA’s Department of Entomology and the Georgia Department of Agriculture. The author committee is made up of Jennifer Berry, Kris Braman, Keith Delaplane, Mike Evans, Philip Roberts, and Alton Sparks. Those of you who are beekeepers may recognize several of these names as people heavily involved in pollinator research.

The draft of the plan was sent to over 35 groups across the state for their input – Georgia Beekeepers Association, Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, the Peach Commission, the Blueberry Commission to name a few. The result is a plan that has a role for all of Georgia’s citizens.

As community and school gardeners we have a vested interest in pollinator health. More pollinators means more food from our gardens. Not to mention the beauty of enjoying the insects at work.

Guidelines from the pollinator plan that we can garden by include:

If possible leave areas of your property permanently undisturbed for soil-nesting bees. Sun-drenched patches of bare soil, roadsides, ditch banks, and woodland edges are prime bee habitats.

Dedicate pollinator habitat spaces in your garden. UGA’s Pollinator Spaces Project has many resources to help with this. Bees need a season-long unbroken succession of bloom. Many plant species bloom in the spring. Remember to plant plants to bloom in mid- to late-summer including Vitex, sages, and sunflowers. Your local UGA Extension office will have information on what pollinator plants grow well in your area.

Know the beekeepers in your area. If your garden has a bee hive you want to be very careful about pesticide application and you will want to review in detail the section on pesticide users in the plan.

Consider increasing bee nesting sites by providing bee homes. These consist of solid wood pre-drilled with 1/4 to 1/2 inch holes that are at least 3-inches deep. It is important that the tunnels terminate in dead-ends. These are easy to create and a nice addition to any garden.

Educate your gardeners about insect behavior. For example, the flight and nesting behavior of certain solitary bees happens in bursts of extreme activity. In the spring or summer you may see a large number of bees flying out of tunnels in the grass over your garden all at once. These are solitary bees and they are gentle, and their sting risk is extremely low! Enjoy watching them!

If you think insects are a problem in your garden take steps to correctly identify the insects and determine, with the help of your UGA Cooperative Extension Agent, if remedial action is necessary.

If your garden is located in a park or other public space that is maintained by local landscape crews, make sure that if they need to apply insecticide for turf pests that they mow the grass immediately before applying the pesticide. The mowing will get rid of weed flowers that may attract bees.

White Clover — Clover, a bee favorite, is often found in lawns.

Follow all pesticide label directions and precautionary statements. THIS IS THE LAW. EPA is now requiring a “Protection of Pollinators” advisory box on certain pesticides labels. Look for the bee hazard icon and instructions for protecting bees and other pollinators.

Take some time to look at Protecting Georgia’s Pollinators and you will see we all have a role to play. If you need any information about the plan or protecting pollinators contact your local UGA Cooperative Extension Agent.

Happy Gardening!

Happy Pollinator Week

November 30, 2015June 18, 2014 by Becky Griffin

In honor of National Pollinator Week we ask the question “how important are pollinators in our community garden?” VERY!! Technically pollination is the process where pollen is transferred from the male flower parts (stamen-anther and filament) to the female flower parts (pistil-stigma, style, and ovary). Sometimes the male and female parts are on the same flower and sometimes they are on different flowers on the same plant, like squash and cucumbers. Pollinators visit flowers to collect pollen and nectar. The pollination process is a consequence.

Honey Bees - Jeff Martin photographer — Honey Bees – Jeff Martin Photographer

Pollinators are an integral part of any garden. They play a major role in the production of 150 food crops in the United States. Apples, almonds, melons, strawberries, blueberries, onions, squash, cucumbers, and broccoli are just a few food crops that are dependent on pollinators. One third of every bite of food we eat is due to pollinators. So, they are vital to your community garden. How do you attract and keep pollinators?

Some community gardens have common areas set aside for flowers. This is a great spot to add plants that attract pollinators. Plants like black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia spp.), bee balm (Monarda didyma), anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), zinnia (Zinnia elegans), butterfly weed (Asclepias spp.), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), sunflower (Helianthus annuus), dill (Anethum graveolens), and aster (Aster spp.) are all great choices. These not only attract pollinators but other beneficial insects like lacewings, praying mantids, and parasitic wasps. Plan your area for a long bloom time. Bee balm and black-eyed Susan start blooming early in the summer while many asters bloom late into the fall. Some gardeners may want to include a few of these in their individual garden plot.

102_2015 — Bumble Bee on Orange Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Perennial shrubs are also great for common areas since they create a more permanent landscape. Consider fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii) which starts blooming early in the spring. Sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) blooms in midsummer and is usually covered in pollinators. Winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) provides flowers in the cooler months when the hairy bumble bees may be active. UGA Commercial Horticulturist, Jeffrey Webb, has a great publication, Beyond Butterflies: Gardening for Native Pollinators, which has a comprehensive list of plant choices.

Use pesticides ONLY when necessary. If you have to use them, spot spray rather than cover spray. Apply pesticides that are the least toxic to pollinators. And, spray when the pollinators are less active. Your local UGA Extension agent can help you decide which pesticide is most effective with the least damage to the beneficial insects.

With a few additional steps your garden can even become a Certified Pollinator Garden. The pollinators win since they have a great place to collect nectar and pollen. Your food crops win because their flowers get pollinated. You win because your vegetables are more abundant and extra delicious!

Happy Gardening!