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Simple Ways of Attracting Pollinators to Your Garden

Migrating Monarchs

Attracting pollinators to your garden is a great way to add interest to your garden. By planting brightly colored flowers, you will be sure to attract butterflies as well as hummingbirds to your garden.

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Certain plants will attract certain types of pollinators. These are called host plants. These specific plants are sometimes the only food source for the butterfly to reproduce.

When I was about 8 years old, I remember the time we saw something amazing!  There was a huge clump of Monarch butterflies in a pine tree next to a home we owned down on the Bon Secour River.

I don’t think I know another soul who has had that experience to this day. This being nearly 40 years ago, I can honestly say that I can’t remember the last time I have seen a Monarch butterfly.

I moved “up north” to Summerdale about 10 years ago, and the milkweed population is nearly non existent far as I can tell. I think pesticides and herbicides have nearly wiped out a lot of things we took for granted as kids.

FACT: About 80% of the worlds crop species require animal pollination to set seed

Encourage Pollinators

Luckily for us, the human population, there are other pollinators around besides Monarchs. Which brings me to the point (kinda) of this post.  Pollinators and Host Plants ! Pollinators are pretty much in a state of decline, so something I’ve started doing is leaving a spot in my garden specifically for pollinators.

Hummingbirds are also great pollinators. Check out this article to learn how to Keep Hummingbirds Coming to Your Garden Every Year

Top 10 Flowers that Hummingbirds Love is a list of flowers to plant in your garden that hummingbirds LOVE!

Create a Cutflower Graden

I just till up a spot, level it out, and fill it with a couple of those packets of mixed seeds.

I like to use Cut Flowers or something similar that you can put in a vase and enjoy indoor, too.

Simply spread them out over about a 6 foot by 10 ft spot. Then lightly cover them with soil and water them down.

  I got really lucky this year and I had a HUGE germination rate.

Host Plants

Another thing I have done the past couple of years for attracting pollinators, is find specific host plants like Passion flower vine and milkweed .  They are selling in our local home improvement stores nowadays…a weed….that  we tried to eradicate from our fence lines forever.

Here is a picture of a Passion Flower vine i have planted on a fence next to my house. It’s the host plant of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly.

Every year I cut it back to the ground. In the spring, it grows and covers my entire fence and then around August, the Fritillary show up to lay their eggs!

It’s what I’m patiently waiting for this year!  The Gulf fritillary have JUST started showing up!  Yes , I’m excited about having my huge passionflower vine DEVOURED.

Find out what host plants you can grow and your area and you will be surprised how the butterflies will show up that you may have never seen before! Attracting pollinators benefits everyone involved!

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