Habitat Gardening

Beyond Bees: How many other pollinators can you identify in your garden?

Written by Meredith French

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Did you know that 98% of our flowering plant species need animal assistance for pollination? There are currently around 240,000 such species identified and all, but a smattering, depend on insects for survival. Insects purposely or inadvertently move pollen grains from the anthers to the receptive part of the carpel or pistil of a blossom as part of their activities of foraging for nectar or for other insects. Included in this laundry list of insects are bees (at least 20,000 species), wasps, ants, beetles, flies, moths and butterflies. Most work with “flower constancy” or the habit of transferring pollen to “conspecific” plants. This prevents the likelihood of clogging stigmas of unrelated plants with unusable pollens.

The Great Bee Rescue

Written by Meredith French

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Upon learning our home of so many years was probably going to make it through an escrow, dependent in part on the removal of our extended bee family living in an unused chimney, I began contemplating how I was going to get them out alive-Alive and well enough to live for anther day or more. You see, I am one of those strange people who value bees and do not see them as public enemy #1 and in need of extermination whenever they are seen in an abundance of over five on a 50x100 sq. ft lot. I am no fan of our local “pest” control companies, which to my dismay, not only include bees in this category, but spiders.

Native Pollinators can help with Fruit and Vegetable Yields

Written by Ron Vanderhoff

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If you’re like many home gardeners, over the past couple of years you may have added some fruit trees to your garden. Maybe a peach or an apricot, or even a few citrus or dwarf avocado. Maybe you’re more into grapes and berries. Perhaps you’re more the vegetable type and started growing your own tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and others.

Did you know that all of these fruits and vegetables need pollination in order to produce their crops? You can reliably improve pollinations of all your fruits and vegetables by attracting the right insects. Non-native European honey bees are our most famous pollinator, but most gardeners can’t do much to lure these into their gardens.

Ever wonder what pollinated our crops before honeybees were introduced from Europe?

Want More Birds in Your Garden? Add Water

Written by Ron Vanderhoff

I’ve probably never met a gardener who didn’t also enjoy the delightful sounds and sights of warblers, wrens, bluebirds and thrushes in their garden.

A healthy, diverse garden will always encourage a few feathered friends, but the abundance of birds will be far greater with just a little planning.