By Barb Elliot

Pollinator Week* is a good time to watch, celebrate, and be thankful for pollinators.   After all, they are responsible for every third bite of our food and drink.  They pollinate crops, trees, shrubs, and flowers in our landscapes for free.  I’m having fun observing pollinators

Native Bee on Sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa). Barb’s Yard 6/16/2014. © Barb Elliot

as flowers bloom on my native trees, shrubs, and perennials. Native bees, beetles, wasps, and butterflies are busy during the day, and after dark I’m finding moths and other nighttime insects visiting my flowers.  Pollinator Week is a good time to take a walk in your yard, look for flowers with pollinators, and watch them as they work.

It’s also a great time to do something for pollinators!  Facing multiple threats, including habitat loss, pesticides, and diseases, they certainly need our help.  The simplest and best

Moth on Common Milkweed (Aesclepias syriaca). Barb’s yard, 6/15/2014. © Barb Elliot

thing we can do to help is add some pollinator-friendly native flowers to your landscape – even if it’s just a few plants in a pot.  Do even more by taking the Pollinator Pledge through The Xerces Society Bring Back the Pollinators program.

For a list of pollinator-friendly plants and more information about pollinators, reasons for pollinator declines, and other simple actions you can take, see my March 24, 2014 post Pollinators Need Our Help!