One morning I read an article on the effects of pesticides on pollinators. In the article was a picture of a bee curled up on the ground after ingesting nectar from a flower that had been sprayed while attempting to eradicate mosquitoes. As sad as this was, it motivated me to help. For 35 years I have taught and lectured on Alternatives to Pesticides in the garden, so I began my latest challenge as a “Pollinator Advocate.” Pollinators are in trouble, in part, due to practices that some of us have performed on our planet including our landscapes, farms, and gardens.
This has been done unknowingly of the harm to these beneficial insects that are essentially providing us with plant based nutrition that fuels our bodies, fibers to clothe us, spices and medicines, oxygen, and a stunning array of flowers.
A pollinator is any insect, bird, or mammal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower of the same species. This simple action allows the plant to make seed and reproduce. 90% of plant species require a pollinator to reproduce.
Image Credit: Luc Viatour.
Bee in a Hibiscus Flower clearly showing how easy pollen granules are moved from flower to flower.
Actually, we can be a pollinator by using a small brush and taking pollen from one plant and dabbing it on the other. We aren’t very fast or efficient but we can be called a pollinator. Perhaps we could classify the most efficient pollinators in 7 major groups:
If pollinators can’t fit in tubular flowers like hummingbirds can, they will make a slit like in this Cuphea blossom, to rob the nectar but don’t pollinate because they are sneaking in the flower and not making contact with pollen. They are fondly referred to as Nectar Robbers.
Image Credit: Ann Barklow.
So many ways we can help. Protect their lives…Preserve ours. Are you a City or Campus that wants to create sustainable habitat for Pollinators? Protecting the Life that Sustains us
Author Ann Barklow Ann is a Certified Horticulturist, Master Gardener and Arborist with 35 years in the Horticultural and Landscaping Field. In her community, she serves on the Piedmont Tech Horticultural Advisory committee along with Bee City USA, America in Bloom, Lakeland's Master Gardener Board of Directors, and the Festival of Flowers Committee. She is a Strategic Partner with Park Seed Company, Wayside Gardens, and Jackson & Perkins - educating on pollinators and wildlife.