WHY ARE POLLINATORS SO IMPORTANT?

Pollinators, those insects such as butterflies and bees that we see flitting from flower to flower in the warm, summer months, are an essential link in the entire web of life on our planet as we know it, and their populations are declining at a rapid rate in just the last few decades.

They are responsible not only for ensuring that our gardens continue to bloom and that our native forests and meadows continue to grow, they are the absolute lynchpin in our food system. Even the most technologically advanced, mechanized, and chemically managed agricultural farm systems rely on pollinators to carry pollen from one plant to the next in order for the flowers on each plant to produce its fruit, the food we eat.

If pollinator populations continue to decline, not only would the majority of plant species go extinct, but every other animal on earth that relies on plants for food would follow suit.

The exact cause of the decline in the numbers of pollinators is various. From invasive species to fungal and bacterial infections of their communities, to the widespread use of certain insecticides and other chemicals, there are many possible combined factors that are contributing to this potential crisis.

But it is not all doom and gloom. There is something we all can do, and that is to encourage our local population of pollinators to regrow to their former populations, and we can do this by providing them with the basic conditions they need to live and reproduce, which is through… growing flowering plants!

That’s right, by growing flowering plants from native flowers like Milkweed, Black-Eyed Susans, and Blue Vervain, flowering trees and shrubs like American Linden, Wild Virginia Rose, and Pussy Willow, and of course vegetable garden staples like tomatoes, peppers, and squash.

Convert a little bit of your lawn to pollinator friendly species and include some native species in your existing garden beds, and not only will you enhance the beauty of your surroundings and invite friendly and fascinating wildlife into your yard, but you contribute to the health of the human species and the entire living planet!