Pollinators Wanted

When warm weather hits the garden pollinators are out in force. What is a pollinator? A pollinator is responsible
for providing food for the world! Strong words, yes, but without pollinators we wouldn't be able to survive, we wouldn't have enough food. The dictionary definition is a vector that moves pollen from the male parts of a flower, or anther, to the female parts of a flower, the stigma. In this way the plant is fertilized and can then develop fruit or seed. Pollinators are usually insects such as butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, and flies. Other pollinators are lizards, hummingbirds, bats and even other mammals may carry pollen from the anther to the stigma of a flower. Some plants are pollinated by wind like wheat, rise and corn. Other plants are self pollinators like peanuts or soybeans. Humans can be pollinators too. We might hand pollinate our garden vegetables due to pollinator decline or to keep a species genetically the same. Many new varieties of plants are developed by someone who hand pollinates one variety with another.

As I am writing, a picture comes to my mind of armies of robot insects swarming about. And that's about what it seemed like today. The wisteria was humming with honey bees and carpenter bees. The hummingbird was buzzing around the salvia. The alyssum was attracting bees to the vegetable bins and the apple tree blossoms were visited by many an insect too.

We can all use a few more pollinators. I encourage pollinators in my garden by leaving a low, flat container of fresh water for insects to drink from. I place a small stick in the water so any insect falling in can get up and fly out. I also place a rock in my birdbaths. I don't use any pesticides or herbicides unless I absolutely have to and never when pollinators are present. I use the pollinator stamp on my mail. Oftentimes visitors to the garden will remark "Doesn't that plant attract a lot of bees?" I say yes, but the bees are no bother, they just go about their business and leave me alone. I have harvested my lavender for four years now and have never been stung by a bee while harvesting.

No Cows Allowed !

Have you ever tried to describe a cow? That’s what I was doing a few Saturdays ago when I discovered two cows in my garden. Apparently someone had locked the cows behind our gate trying to prevent anyone from hitting the cows, since the cows had been out on the highway. I spent that morning trying to locate the owner. Each person I called asked me to describe the cows - I couldn’t get close enough to see if they had a brand - just that they had green tags in their ears. I finally located the owner and he came and got them. All I could think of when I saw the cows was all the damage they were going to do, stepping on all the plants and eating whatever lay in their path. I might put up a sign on the gate saying, “No Cows Allowed !”

But what a minute, now that I think about it, animals seem to like the garden. Take for instance the wild turkeys, they come by regularly and browse around in the flower beds eating insects, oftentimes resting on the bench under the rose arbor. Then there are the great blue heron who land in the deodar tree trying to spy gophers popping up, hoping for a meal. Yes, it’s true I have actually seen two heron catch gophers here. One heron swallowed the gopher whole and another carried the gopher off, presumably to feed its young. The heron are actually making a dent in the gopher population. Then there are the sly visitors to the garden. The ones I know have been here by the evidence they leave behind. The deer who eat the roses and the skunks who help themselves to low hanging oranges, leaving the peels behind. If I could just get some of these visitors to do some weeding, things would be almost perfect around here.

The rosemary is blooming and the bold yellow of the Euryops "Tali' are making a wonderful show in the herb garden this week. The flowering plum trees are in full bloom. I notice there are very few honey bees this year. I would have
thought the pungent blossoms of the plum would draw the bees in droves, but not so. In recent years, bees numbers have dwindled for a number of reasons. To help our bee populations, plant flowers that are attractive to bees, such as zinnias. And try not to use any pesticides or herbicides in the garden. In this way you can help our bees stay healthy. Well, I am off now to check with my beekeeper neighbor to see why there are so few bees right now.