Great advice, but you've missed an important aspect of attracting pollinators: planting NATIVE plants that attract native pollinators. You mentioned monarch butterflies, which are in serious peril, but you didnt mention the important fact that they only lay their eggs on their host plant, milkweed. Native plants could be another product line to consider for your business. I do love your enthusiasm and channel!
Wild Ones is a national organization with dozens of chapters across the country. Many chapters host native plant sales offering species native to their local region. Some local nurseries also offer native plants, but more are needed (as long as the plants have been locally sourced and are not cultivars/nativars, which often lack certain features that make native plants truly native).
Wow, a lot of people mentioning you didn’t say native plants. Read the comments people. Do your own research. Luke can’t do everything for you. He shares so much information to all of us.
Like others have mentioned, as part of a pollinator garden, native plants are super important for pollinators-- for hosting and food purposes. Also, when choosing plants, look for flowers that have a ring of petals around a central disk as well as flowers of different shapes-- e.g. tublar, flat topped etc, and avoid double flowers which are usually hybridized and don't attract pollinators well. Also, try to get a variety of plants that bloom over different time periods, from Spring to late Fall and be cognizant of the soil and sun needs for each plant as well as their habit, particularlyif the plant spreads by rhizomes, which you may or may not want. (I learned the hard way.) There are many great pollinator plants, but some include: asters, coneflowers, milkweed, monarda, sunflowers, yarrow, hyssop, and zinnia. Google best pollinator plants for your area and lots of resources pop up.
i don’t know if you’re actually from Michigan or nearby, but this is going to be very specific to your region. for me this info is available from the biggest university’s extension service and a local native plant hobbyist organization. wherever you are, biodiversity is key as the video says, and for me i welcome some native “weeds” that might not be the most pretty to look at but might have pollinator and/or soil benefits. if you aren’t very familiar with your local native weeds vs invasives and have an iOS device (not sure about Android), the PictureThis and Seek by iNaturalist apps are great machine-learning tools for getting started.
Clover, dandelion, coneflowers, i get a lot from ditches when I'm driving like my elderberries and any other perennials I can plant that will come back year after year without a whole bunch of work
Love the channel! Definitely wanted to say, people need to focus more on native plants for pollinator gardens! One pollinator favorite I would highly suggest is spotted Joe pye (native to your area). A dwarf Joe Pye would add some nice height to your garden, maybe by your bird bath, and has a nice attractive growing habit. Also Asclepias tuberosa is an excellent garden milkweed for monarchs and also behaves beautifully in the landscape! The orange flower is also stunning
Borage is wonderful for pollinators and the food source in the flowers replenishes itself within about 15 minutes. One of the fastest flowers to replenish the food for the pollinators
Borage grows like mad in my plot and then mysteriously seems to rot in the stem and keel over. Fortunately it self seeds but I wonder if I'm doing something wrong.
@@hyacinthABCI don't think you doing anything wrong. I got a few borage plants all over the garden after planting Flower mix seeds and some food really good but some did what yours did, and I think it was something in the soil.
I had a really big borage plant last summer, but it doesn't seem to have self-seeded. There wasn't a sign of life in the bed where it was so I added fresh soil to plant something else. 😢
Luke, it would be wonderful if you sold more native plant seeds too. They would definitely sell out as soon as you put them up online. I bought bee balm from you last year.
I agree! I was hoping he would put a little pop-up list in the video of the various varieties of each kind. But he does a great job of bringing these subjects to our attention that we probably didn’t realize in the first place.
Luke, there needs to be a discussion about neonicotinoids. People need to be aware of the fact that many nurseries are selling plants that contain harmful pesticides that can kill insects. What precautions do you take to avoid this risk?
You can go to native wildlife friendly plant nurseries and order from websites dedicated to wildlife preservation. You could also grow the plants from seed yourself
I use Alyssums, Lavender and Marigolds. Last year I bought a couple different flowers one to attracts bees the other for hummingbirds. I've never thought of a birdbath or water source in general. Thanks for that tip.
I did a search for a list of nectar Pollinator plants and a short list is: Borage, Butterfly Bush, monarda (bee balm), lavender, salvia, fuschia, torch lily, cosmos, coneflower, honeysuckle, yarrow, snapdragon, phlox.
Thank you so much for your information about pollinators. Last year I planted squash but never had any fruit. My master gardener across the street told me I didn’t have any flowers to entice the pollinators to visit my garden. This year I got a few seed packets for flowers that attract bees and hummingbirds. Also some flowers for fragrance. I’m mixing the two in an area near my garden. I also got some Columbine plants from our local gardening store. We have hummers that return each year and I read that they like Columbines. Plus we have a feeder for them. One has even landed on my husband’s head and hovered at our window checking us out.
Plant more natives to your local area.. Little to no maintenance and they come back yrar after year. Lots of local birds that don't migrate will need the seed heads of your pollinator plants - please don't tidy up your garden too much - til mothers day. That way all those beneficial insects that OVER WINTERED on those leafs can get the time to weak up and fly away before you " spring clea" 😮
Strong agree-I was trying to do the least invasive garden cleanup just a few weeks ago (picking up the bricks that slid off my garden wall in the winter), and stopped very quickly when I uncovered a sleepy bee!
I have a pretty sizeable butterfly/pollinator garden. There is nothing that is "little to no maintenance." Sorry, but people like to say this all the time, and people will plant tons of these plants, only to find out a lot of them are borderline invasive, and not appropriate for an urban or suburban setting. You have to do your homework before planting out a garden like this. Nothing is maintenance-free though.
Something you didn’t talk about was how important it is to plant native species to feed the local pollinators and bees. Non-native flowers are very pretty but local pollinator insects may not even recognize them because they aren’t bred to be attractive to pollinator insects.
Thyme and sage are other good ones. I had a 200sqft thing of thyme in my front yard. For almost 2 months out of the year there were hundreds of bees there all day. In my area they seem to favor thyme.
I planted my chocolate cherry sunflowers last year and I would come out to water in the mornings and the bees were always asleep on them. It was so cool
I would also state the obvious that if you are trying to attract pollinators it is essential that you don’t use pesticides (even organic) in your garden as they kill not only pests but beneficial insects such as pollinators as well.
Great information! Right now we currently have a very large Rosemary bush in bloom, and is loaded with bees. The holly trees are in bloom and heavily visited, but that is shorter duration. One thing I noticed the last year at the big box hardware store was the bees were all over their lavender plants, and not visiting all the other flowers. So we’ve begun a process of ensuring an adequate supply of lavender around the garden. And it’s a great perennial!
I use the simple flowers and attract a lot of pollinators. First is planting out cut off carrot tops. They grow and go to seed. Huge umbels of flowers. Alyssum blankets everywhere. Radishes and other things allowed to grow just for the flowers. Zinnias, asters, mini roses, nasturtium, mini sunflower etc for blasts of color
Great advice, Luke! Especially the drinking source! One thing I would add is, if you can, let the wild things grow on your lot or the border. I am able to leave several areas 10x10 areas of native flowering plants/weeds and we have an abundance of pollinators. We just let things grow and mow down in the late fall. Natural is best and cheapest :)
This is a great suggestion! It's amazing what native plants will show up and feed pollinators if you just allow them to be. The seedbank provides! If you leave the stems, they provide a great winter food source for birds and a place for pollinators and other insects to overwinter safely too!
I have gobs of bees, there must also be a wild honeybee hive back in the woods. I sowed crimson clover across my field and gobs of violas, balsam, dill, fennel and cilantro that reseed everywhere every year. I also have perennial herbs and fruit like thyme, sage, oregano, lemon balm, raspberries, blueberries, etc. Lots of wild blackberries, elderberries, honeysuckle, yarrow, penstemon, daisy, ect.
California poppies blanket my backyard. I didnt think that this bright orange sea of native flowers are the lure that brings the pollinators in ...where they will find fruit trees, vegetables are other flowers needing pollination.
I also do celery and here in east TX they keep flowers for a few months and they attract so many types of pollinators. Warning about celery, once established, it spreads! So keep it in an area away from other things because it will take over a bed if you allow it. But a good thing is you will just about always have celery! I also do the dill weed like he says here. As well as Zinas, and many other things that flower. I also know many people hate these trees, but Mimosas are beautiful and they attract bees and wasps all season long, spring to fall.
we do a planter dish an fill it full an put a stick on the side so if they cant get out they can use stick to climb on we do jars to put stick in an bees an wasp are always at the water hole ...dont kill wasp just pay no mind to them an they will not mind you too 😊
This video is perfect I am planting up an 8 ft x 4 ft pollinator bed and I have every single plant you listed on my list I was planning on getting one of each but now I'll get two to three of each of the little ones
Agree. I noticed the other day that carpenter bees love the flowers from blueberries while honey bees fly right by it to get the apple tree flowers. The carpenter bees didn't even bother with my apple tree
Cup plants are great natural water fountain for birds and pollinators, that are native but invasive natives so gotta pull them. I'm always surprised to see the variety of critters that drink from mine every summer. When it's super dry out I spray my cup plants and 'fill them up' and then sit back and watch who comes to drink from them.
I do the same. It's so fun to watch and see who comes, especially when it's been dry outside. Cup Plants are native where I live, but do spread fast. Their roots can be like tree roots and the plants get really heavy when large, which makes it a real effort to dig them up and divide them. I do enjoy sharing them with others, though.
Dill is something I planted this year....I heard pollinators love it when you let it go to seed. I won't harvest it for my own use but I wanted to try something different.
Love this - it goes well alongside my theory of making sure that your plants span the seasons - no good our pollinators bingeing in summer only to starve in the autumn (fall)!
Different plants are of different value for different native bees, you can find more info by looking for NWF’s Keystone Native Plants publications- you’ll need to look for the one that corresponds to your area
All very good and useful advice but it would have been nice to have heard good plant combos for plants that provide just pollen or just nectar, for example. This way, we can plant those combinations. Thank you.
Everything I have read has said Butterfly Bush is a solid nectar source for pollinators. It is invasive so you can plant in pots instead of in the ground but I was a bit shocked to hear you say it is not a good food source as mine is often covered in hummingbirds and bees and they don't go to plants that lack the food sources they are looking for. Also echoing the many other voices on natives, NOTHING has brough the pollinators to my yard like my native garden. It has brought species of insects in that I have never seen before. It is like our ecosytem has been starved of the food they truly depend on. Natives for the win!
Great topic! I have alot of native plants growing in my yard that I just let grow on their own like dandelion and clover and violet. I am getting ready to plant some other flowers I have seed packets of in a few weeks when most of my vegetable seedlings are ready to plant in the ground.
Three days late for my birthday but thanks for the video birthday present. Do you have any videos on butterfly bushes? My sister wanted one for Mother’s Day and I had to order the one she wanted from a nursery and have it shipped, would not have bought this plant home if I saw it first. All the websites say to be carful about watering to much or fertilizing to much. When I got it out of the box it was shipped in( bent double) it seemed very dry and the leafs were yellowing. So it was supposed to shower that night so figured it would get water and some rain every day this week. I gave it a little blood meal figure it would slowly feed the plant to help with the yellowing. Any tips would be appreciated greatly!!!!!
Most of the flowering plants you mentioned are already done in deep south 9b. I'm planting zinnias like mad to compensate and hoping the buckwheat takes off as a flowering cover crop. We also let our brassicas and herbs flower if possible after they're too bitter to eat.
Creating a separate pollinator garden is great, but do you also incorporate the same flowers or others into your vegetable/fruit garden for better pollination & higher pollinator attraction. Many of our flowers help keep crop predators away from our edibles.
One VERY important thing- make sure the flowering plants you buy from the store aren't sprayed with insecticide!! Unfortunately, many still are. You can try a thorough rinse with just water-or cut the flowers off-crazy as that may sound. If given the proper nutrients-especially phosphorus, the plant will soon produce more, pollinator safe blooms.
❤ Thanks. Love info. I was in box store and they had hummingbird almost attacking a hibiscus plant with flowers. I try to have variety flowers including perennials like lavender that bloom almost year around.
It would be great if you listed the plants and flowers that provide the nutrition the pollinators need. I don’t have a ton of time to do research. Thank you for all the content, being a midwesterner as well, it’s beneficial for me to see someone that has a similar climate. 8:57
I am constantly saving native “weeds” from the lawnmower and moving them into my garden. I get the full spectrum of pollinators and predatory insects that way for free and with little effort.
Many plants are sold as great for bees and butterflies. But the reality is pollinators can be very selective and their preferences differ geographically. It is very important to do the reading and the research before getting out the shovel. A great way to start is to go to your small independent local nursery and see what the pollinators are attracted to…. Creating a resilient insectary is one of the biggest challenges I have take on but it has been one of the most rewarding here in Zone 6 New England…
In my area outside of Boston, mint attracts black wasps and they are big... in the early summer only... just saying!! In the spring and fall i don't even see them.. these guys are HUGE.
This video is generally addressing insect or other flying pollinators (aka the hummingbirds). Much of our garden crops rely on those pollinators. This does indeed include many species of wasps, Bees, bumblebees, beetles , butterflies & wasps etc...
What's a good resource for flower info such as: (1) ratio of pollen to nectar; (2) flowering season ? What distance between food garden and pollinator-attracting-garden is too far?
How do you clean the birdbath with the stones? I’ve tried this, and in hot weather the stones get slimy fast, and the water needs to be changed often to prevent mosquitoes.
it will take time for my snow on the mountain and calendula to come up which are all over the place. I also have a buffer zone for no mosquito spraying and people in garden groups are losing their minds upset that people do that. I would rather try to lower the toxins on my garden as I attempt to grow organic.
good morning Luke!!!! flowers flowers everywhere and some tea to drink!! but something in my front yard is eating my new lavander baby plant... wut??????
I had my youngest daughter watch this so she would better understand pollinators. She is a gardner in training and the other day ahe seen bees around our garden. She asked "mom, can i kill it because it will sting." I told her no because that bee is doing its job
Eu amo um jardineiro e o nome é Luka. Local, consciente, empresário, sensato, pai de família e aí agora ele me inventa de gravar pollinator garden??? ❤😂😂😂
What happened in editing? The video is cut a million times a second. It's so hard to watch. Great info, as usual but the editing is annoying when it's so jerky.
I have an established butterfly/pollinator garden that is pretty good size. I would caution people to do your homework though on these plants. A lot of natives can be a real nuisance, bordering on a problem in an urban or suburban lot. I would consider planting nativars or at least research which straight species will not become a problem in your landscape. Also, if you think you're planting a "maintenance-free'' garden, think again. They don't exist. Sure, you could just let everything run amok, but I don't think your neighbors will appreciate that, and it will certainly not help your curb appeal. Planting out a 100% native garden is probably more appropriate in a rural setting for someone with some acreage. I encourage people to plant out good plants for pollinators, but just know what you're getting into, and do your research.
Another mistake is removing weeds, or plants most would consider weeds. Dandelions are often the first plant to flower in the spring and provide an early food source, not to mention the whole plant is edible. We also get carpets of purple deadnettle and creeping Charlie around here, wild mints that have plenty of flowers of their own, and which are also edible. Later in the season, the white snakeroot blooms, which the bumblebees love, and which the deer leave alone because it's toxic.
Lots of flowers can be sown directly in the garden. They'll just bloom a little later than ones started earlier. In the Midwest, zinnias and sunflowers always do well when I direct sow them in May.
Great advice, but you've missed an important aspect of attracting pollinators: planting NATIVE plants that attract native pollinators. You mentioned monarch butterflies, which are in serious peril, but you didnt mention the important fact that they only lay their eggs on their host plant, milkweed. Native plants could be another product line to consider for your business. I do love your enthusiasm and channel!
Came here to say this!☝️
You're absolutely right!!
Yes! I wish finding native plants commercially were more widely available.
@@basilbaby7678 you might want to check out Garden for Wildlife (if you’re in the Eastern 75% of the US)
Wild Ones is a national organization with dozens of chapters across the country. Many chapters host native plant sales offering species native to their local region. Some local nurseries also offer native plants, but more are needed (as long as the plants have been locally sourced and are not cultivars/nativars, which often lack certain features that make native plants truly native).
Wow, a lot of people mentioning you didn’t say native plants. Read the comments people. Do your own research. Luke can’t do everything for you. He shares so much information to all of us.
Like others have mentioned, as part of a pollinator garden, native plants are super important for pollinators-- for hosting and food purposes. Also, when choosing plants, look for flowers that have a ring of petals around a central disk as well as flowers of different shapes-- e.g. tublar, flat topped etc, and avoid double flowers which are usually hybridized and don't attract pollinators well. Also, try to get a variety of plants that bloom over different time periods, from Spring to late Fall and be cognizant of the soil and sun needs for each plant as well as their habit, particularlyif the plant spreads by rhizomes, which you may or may not want. (I learned the hard way.) There are many great pollinator plants, but some include: asters, coneflowers, milkweed, monarda, sunflowers, yarrow, hyssop, and zinnia. Google best pollinator plants for your area and lots of resources pop up.
It would be very helpful if you could provide a list of the best plant combinations to attract pollinators all season long.
i don’t know if you’re actually from Michigan or nearby, but this is going to be very specific to your region. for me this info is available from the biggest university’s extension service and a local native plant hobbyist organization. wherever you are, biodiversity is key as the video says, and for me i welcome some native “weeds” that might not be the most pretty to look at but might have pollinator and/or soil benefits. if you aren’t very familiar with your local native weeds vs invasives and have an iOS device (not sure about Android), the PictureThis and Seek by iNaturalist apps are great machine-learning tools for getting started.
I was just thinking this too.
Use Parslet, alyssum, sunflowers, dille and maybe even green manure plants.
Clover, dandelion, coneflowers, i get a lot from ditches when I'm driving like my elderberries and any other perennials I can plant that will come back year after year without a whole bunch of work
lol I was waiting for him to give a list too
Love the channel!
Definitely wanted to say, people need to focus more on native plants for pollinator gardens! One pollinator favorite I would highly suggest is spotted Joe pye (native to your area). A dwarf Joe Pye would add some nice height to your garden, maybe by your bird bath, and has a nice attractive growing habit. Also Asclepias tuberosa is an excellent garden milkweed for monarchs and also behaves beautifully in the landscape! The orange flower is also stunning
Yes to all of this!!!
Borage is wonderful for pollinators and the food source in the flowers replenishes itself within about 15 minutes. One of the fastest flowers to replenish the food for the pollinators
Borage grows like mad in my plot and then mysteriously seems to rot in the stem and keel over. Fortunately it self seeds but I wonder if I'm doing something wrong.
Borage insanely attractive honey bees.🐝 They absolutely love that plant. I would water it and it would be covered. I loved having them in my garden.
@@hyacinthABCI don't think you doing anything wrong. I got a few borage plants all over the garden after planting Flower mix seeds and some food really good but some did what yours did, and I think it was something in the soil.
I had a really big borage plant last summer, but it doesn't seem to have self-seeded. There wasn't a sign of life in the bed where it was so I added fresh soil to plant something else. 😢
You should always try and plant native plants, Many bees can only use certain types of flowers like sunflowers, Goldenrod and asters.
Luke, it would be wonderful if you sold more native plant seeds too. They would definitely sell out as soon as you put them up online. I bought bee balm from you last year.
Could you do another video on protein rich and carb rich flowers particularly perennial and long blooming? Love the information
I agree! I was hoping he would put a little pop-up list in the video of the various varieties of each kind. But he does a great job of bringing these subjects to our attention that we probably didn’t realize in the first place.
Luke, there needs to be a discussion about neonicotinoids. People need to be aware of the fact that many nurseries are selling plants that contain harmful pesticides that can kill insects. What precautions do you take to avoid this risk?
You can go to native wildlife friendly plant nurseries and order from websites dedicated to wildlife preservation.
You could also grow the plants from seed yourself
I use Alyssums, Lavender and Marigolds. Last year I bought a couple different flowers one to attracts bees the other for hummingbirds. I've never thought of a birdbath or water source in general. Thanks for that tip.
Hi Luke - Thank you for the info! Can you please give us a list of plants that provide nectar for the pollinators
I did a search for a list of nectar Pollinator plants and a short list is:
Borage, Butterfly Bush, monarda (bee balm), lavender, salvia, fuschia, torch lily, cosmos, coneflower, honeysuckle, yarrow, snapdragon, phlox.
You are a wealth of information. I did learn something new every time I watch a video. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your information about pollinators. Last year I planted squash but never had any fruit. My master gardener across the street told me I didn’t have any flowers to entice the pollinators to visit my garden. This year I got a few seed packets for flowers that attract bees and hummingbirds. Also some flowers for fragrance. I’m mixing the two in an area near my garden. I also got some Columbine plants from our local gardening store. We have hummers that return each year and I read that they like Columbines. Plus we have a feeder for them. One has even landed on my husband’s head and hovered at our window checking us out.
Sunflowers help 💛
If you want to see a wild diversity of insects feeding in your garden, broad leaf mountain mint (doesn’t spread by runners) is VERY popular
So excited-I’m growing some from seed this year!
Plant more natives to your local area.. Little to no maintenance and they come back yrar after year. Lots of local birds that don't migrate will need the seed heads of your pollinator plants - please don't tidy up your garden too much - til mothers day. That way all those beneficial insects that OVER WINTERED on those leafs can get the time to weak up and fly away before you " spring clea" 😮
Strong agree-I was trying to do the least invasive garden cleanup just a few weeks ago (picking up the bricks that slid off my garden wall in the winter), and stopped very quickly when I uncovered a sleepy bee!
I have a pretty sizeable butterfly/pollinator garden. There is nothing that is "little to no maintenance." Sorry, but people like to say this all the time, and people will plant tons of these plants, only to find out a lot of them are borderline invasive, and not appropriate for an urban or suburban setting. You have to do your homework before planting out a garden like this. Nothing is maintenance-free though.
Something you didn’t talk about was how important it is to plant native species to feed the local pollinators and bees. Non-native flowers are very pretty but local pollinator insects may not even recognize them because they aren’t bred to be attractive to pollinator insects.
If you want bees, plant Sunflowers. It’s almost scary, lol. But, the bees ignore you completely.
Thyme and sage are other good ones. I had a 200sqft thing of thyme in my front yard. For almost 2 months out of the year there were hundreds of bees there all day. In my area they seem to favor thyme.
@@pdxmusl1510 Thyme is what my bees just LOVE! :)
Yes 😂 they get so busy with them
I planted my chocolate cherry sunflowers last year and I would come out to water in the mornings and the bees were always asleep on them. It was so cool
Squash may not attract the most bees but you will get a good show just watching that little bee flop around in the huge flower 😂
I would also state the obvious that if you are trying to attract pollinators it is essential that you don’t use pesticides (even organic) in your garden as they kill not only pests but beneficial insects such as pollinators as well.
Bumblebees love hysop
Great information! Right now we currently have a very large Rosemary bush in bloom, and is loaded with bees. The holly trees are in bloom and heavily visited, but that is shorter duration. One thing I noticed the last year at the big box hardware store was the bees were all over their lavender plants, and not visiting all the other flowers. So we’ve begun a process of ensuring an adequate supply of lavender around the garden. And it’s a great perennial!
I use the simple flowers and attract a lot of pollinators. First is planting out cut off carrot tops. They grow and go to seed. Huge umbels of flowers. Alyssum blankets everywhere. Radishes and other things allowed to grow just for the flowers. Zinnias, asters, mini roses, nasturtium, mini sunflower etc for blasts of color
I've been watching this channel for years and continue to learn with every video. Great content! Thanks!
Great advice, Luke! Especially the drinking source! One thing I would add is, if you can, let the wild things grow on your lot or the border. I am able to leave several areas 10x10 areas of native flowering plants/weeds and we have an abundance of pollinators. We just let things grow and mow down in the late fall. Natural is best and cheapest :)
This is a great suggestion! It's amazing what native plants will show up and feed pollinators if you just allow them to be. The seedbank provides! If you leave the stems, they provide a great winter food source for birds and a place for pollinators and other insects to overwinter safely too!
I haven't thought of the water feature like that. 🤔 love your videos
I let a Brussel sprout go to seed because it was a fail it grew a off shoot and it's beautiful yellow flowers are attracting the bees, love it.
2nded, bees love flowers from plants in the mustard family
This is great information! Sunflowers, Hollyhocks, marigolds, and nasturtium are in my garden now. Thank you again for all the wonderful info!
I have gobs of bees, there must also be a wild honeybee hive back in the woods. I sowed crimson clover across my field and gobs of violas, balsam, dill, fennel and cilantro that reseed everywhere every year. I also have perennial herbs and fruit like thyme, sage, oregano, lemon balm, raspberries, blueberries, etc. Lots of wild blackberries, elderberries, honeysuckle, yarrow, penstemon, daisy, ect.
The bees love our Rose of Sharon bushes!
Those garlic type plants that get the globes attract every pollinator . I couldn't believe all the different bees ,butterflies around them.
California poppies blanket my backyard. I didnt think that this bright orange sea of native flowers are the lure that brings the pollinators in ...where they will find fruit trees, vegetables are other flowers needing pollination.
I also do celery and here in east TX they keep flowers for a few months and they attract so many types of pollinators. Warning about celery, once established, it spreads! So keep it in an area away from other things because it will take over a bed if you allow it. But a good thing is you will just about always have celery! I also do the dill weed like he says here. As well as Zinas, and many other things that flower. I also know many people hate these trees, but Mimosas are beautiful and they attract bees and wasps all season long, spring to fall.
we do a planter dish an fill it full an put a stick on the side so if they cant get out they can use stick to climb on we do jars to put stick in an bees an wasp are always at the water hole ...dont kill wasp just pay no mind to them an they will not mind you too 😊
This video is perfect I am planting up an 8 ft x 4 ft pollinator bed and I have every single plant you listed on my list I was planning on getting one of each but now I'll get two to three of each of the little ones
I love your knowledge and how your channel has evolved over time! :) Thank you for sharing!
Agree. I noticed the other day that carpenter bees love the flowers from blueberries while honey bees fly right by it to get the apple tree flowers. The carpenter bees didn't even bother with my apple tree
Cup plants are great natural water fountain for birds and pollinators, that are native but invasive natives so gotta pull them. I'm always surprised to see the variety of critters that drink from mine every summer. When it's super dry out I spray my cup plants and 'fill them up' and then sit back and watch who comes to drink from them.
I do the same. It's so fun to watch and see who comes, especially when it's been dry outside. Cup Plants are native where I live, but do spread fast. Their roots can be like tree roots and the plants get really heavy when large, which makes it a real effort to dig them up and divide them. I do enjoy sharing them with others, though.
I hear you, you’re right. I have been focusing in just a few of my favorite flowers and should expand my options. 🎉
I would like a list of protein and carb flowers for bees. Your reference to "Bat Signal" - loved it!
I used to think African Blue Basil was a great honeybee attractor until my neighbor planted Lavender. Yes, bird bath !
Dill is something I planted this year....I heard pollinators love it when you let it go to seed. I won't harvest it for my own use but I wanted to try something different.
Love this - it goes well alongside my theory of making sure that your plants span the seasons - no good our pollinators bingeing in summer only to starve in the autumn (fall)!
What plants provide nutrition for bees?
Plant a clover lawn
Different plants are of different value for different native bees, you can find more info by looking for NWF’s Keystone Native Plants publications- you’ll need to look for the one that corresponds to your area
Check out the Attracting Native Pollinators book from the Xerces Society, they have great bee plant recommendations for different areas in the US
Thanks so much Luke! I really appreciate you sharing knowledge like this 😁🌱❤️
All very good and useful advice but it would have been nice to have heard good plant combos for plants that provide just pollen or just nectar, for example. This way, we can plant those combinations. Thank you.
Everything I have read has said Butterfly Bush is a solid nectar source for pollinators. It is invasive so you can plant in pots instead of in the ground but I was a bit shocked to hear you say it is not a good food source as mine is often covered in hummingbirds and bees and they don't go to plants that lack the food sources they are looking for. Also echoing the many other voices on natives, NOTHING has brough the pollinators to my yard like my native garden. It has brought species of insects in that I have never seen before. It is like our ecosytem has been starved of the food they truly depend on. Natives for the win!
Excellent creation, can you do one on making compost tea an brew
The golden Ann raspberries are growing faster than all my others ty
As others have said-a list would be helpful. Love your videos!
Great topic! I have alot of native plants growing in my yard that I just let grow on their own like dandelion and clover and violet. I am getting ready to plant some other flowers I have seed packets of in a few weeks when most of my vegetable seedlings are ready to plant in the ground.
Three days late for my birthday but thanks for the video birthday present. Do you have any videos on butterfly bushes? My sister wanted one for Mother’s Day and I had to order the one she wanted from a nursery and have it shipped, would not have bought this plant home if I saw it first. All the websites say to be carful about watering to much or fertilizing to much. When I got it out of the box it was shipped in( bent double) it seemed very dry and the leafs were yellowing. So it was supposed to shower that night so figured it would get water and some rain every day this week. I gave it a little blood meal figure it would slowly feed the plant to help with the yellowing. Any tips would be appreciated greatly!!!!!
Ask your nursery if they use neonicotinoid pesticides so you can avoid toxic plants! Or better yet just grow from seed if you can.
Most of the flowering plants you mentioned are already done in deep south 9b. I'm planting zinnias like mad to compensate and hoping the buckwheat takes off as a flowering cover crop. We also let our brassicas and herbs flower if possible after they're too bitter to eat.
My in-ground flower beds have lots of perennials, including natives. My raised bed garden has a mix of vegetables and annual flowers
P.s. yes, I'm going big for pollinators! Got rid of my lawn two years ago, and I'm adding variety every year!
This is helpful
Butterfly houses always get European paper wasps in them which eat butterflies
Hallelujah!!! I'm the favorite, $60,000 every week! Now I can afford anything and also support the work of God and the church.
Oh really? Tell us more! Always interested in hearing stories of successes.
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This is what Ana Graciela Blackwelder does, she has changed my life.
After raising up to 60k trading with her, I bought a new house and car here in the US and also paid for my son's (Oscar) surgery. Glory to God.shalom.
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Creating a separate pollinator garden is great, but do you also incorporate the same flowers or others into your vegetable/fruit garden for better pollination & higher pollinator attraction. Many of our flowers help keep crop predators away from our edibles.
An excellent pollinator I've found is called "veronica-blue skywalker" the pollinators will thank you all summer long.
Thank you for the video. Did I miss you mentioning the flowers you would be planting in your pollinator garden? 🐝
One VERY important thing- make sure the flowering plants you buy from the store aren't sprayed with insecticide!! Unfortunately, many still are. You can try a thorough rinse with just water-or cut the flowers off-crazy as that may sound. If given the proper nutrients-especially phosphorus, the plant will soon produce more, pollinator safe blooms.
Thank you, Luke! Any suggestions for the unusually hot white sun exposure and shading? Affordable shade clothe options?
Great information Luke ❤
❤ Thanks. Love info. I was in box store and they had hummingbird almost attacking a hibiscus plant with flowers. I try to have variety flowers including perennials like lavender that bloom almost year around.
Don't buy flowers from the big box stores...they treat them with neonicotinoids which kill pollinators.
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Love your seeds and the price! Thank you
Thanks I leaned a lot☺
Great advice!! Do they find the water source we put it naturally? Also does the water in the flower count?
Thank you for the helpful information
It would be great if you listed the plants and flowers that provide the nutrition the pollinators need. I don’t have a ton of time to do research. Thank you for all the content, being a midwesterner as well, it’s beneficial for me to see someone that has a similar climate. 8:57
I am constantly saving native “weeds” from the lawnmower and moving them into my garden. I get the full spectrum of pollinators and predatory insects that way for free and with little effort.
Bees love flowering russian sage, flowering thyme, flowering mint. I have literally 100s of bees of all size, feeding all summer.
Many plants are sold as great for bees and butterflies. But the reality is pollinators can be very selective and their preferences differ geographically. It is very important to do the reading and the research before getting out the shovel. A great way to start is to go to your small independent local nursery and see what the pollinators are attracted to…. Creating a resilient insectary is one of the biggest challenges I have take on but it has been one of the most rewarding here in Zone 6 New England…
But what are example of what pollinators like? Is a Wasp a pollinators? They freak me out & seem to bump into me on purpose.
In my area outside of Boston, mint attracts black wasps and they are big... in the early summer only... just saying!! In the spring and fall i don't even see them.. these guys are HUGE.
This video is generally addressing insect or other flying pollinators (aka the hummingbirds). Much of our garden crops rely on those pollinators. This does indeed include many species of wasps, Bees, bumblebees, beetles , butterflies & wasps etc...
What's a good resource for flower info such as: (1) ratio of pollen to nectar; (2) flowering season ? What distance between food garden and pollinator-attracting-garden is too far?
How do you clean the birdbath with the stones? I’ve tried this, and in hot weather the stones get slimy fast, and the water needs to be changed often to prevent mosquitoes.
Great video...thanks
Are you from the Morley area? They used to have an Amish grocery store that sold discounted food.
it will take time for my snow on the mountain and calendula to come up which are all over the place. I also have a buffer zone for no mosquito spraying and people in garden groups are losing their minds upset that people do that. I would rather try to lower the toxins on my garden as I attempt to grow organic.
🙋🏽♀️SAW MY FIRST 🌸🐞OF THE SEASON ‼️
I tried to make a bee bath and I have only seen wasps visit for a drink! 😂
Is that yellow one he's holding a yellow poppy?
good morning Luke!!!! flowers flowers everywhere and some tea to drink!!
but something in my front yard is eating my new lavander baby plant... wut??????
I had my youngest daughter watch this so she would better understand pollinators. She is a gardner in training and the other day ahe seen bees around our garden. She asked "mom, can i kill it because it will sting." I told her no because that bee is doing its job
Eu amo um jardineiro e o nome é Luka. Local, consciente, empresário, sensato, pai de família e aí agora ele me inventa de gravar pollinator garden??? ❤😂😂😂
What happened in editing? The video is cut a million times a second. It's so hard to watch. Great info, as usual but the editing is annoying when it's so jerky.
I have an established butterfly/pollinator garden that is pretty good size. I would caution people to do your homework though on these plants. A lot of natives can be a real nuisance, bordering on a problem in an urban or suburban lot. I would consider planting nativars or at least research which straight species will not become a problem in your landscape. Also, if you think you're planting a "maintenance-free'' garden, think again. They don't exist. Sure, you could just let everything run amok, but I don't think your neighbors will appreciate that, and it will certainly not help your curb appeal. Planting out a 100% native garden is probably more appropriate in a rural setting for someone with some acreage. I encourage people to plant out good plants for pollinators, but just know what you're getting into, and do your research.
Would providing housing for bees keep them from nesting in inconvenient places?
Flock Fingerlakes is a great source of Natives info in the northeast. MiGardener is not your one stop shop for information, they are very busy.
My problem is the price of all the plants these days.
What about the worry of attracting hornets/wasps?
Not literally from space. Terrific unintentional humor.
Another mistake is removing weeds, or plants most would consider weeds. Dandelions are often the first plant to flower in the spring and provide an early food source, not to mention the whole plant is edible. We also get carpets of purple deadnettle and creeping Charlie around here, wild mints that have plenty of flowers of their own, and which are also edible.
Later in the season, the white snakeroot blooms, which the bumblebees love, and which the deer leave alone because it's toxic.
Plant leeks and let them go to flower. You won't be disappointed.
Is it too late to start flowers from seed?
Lots of flowers can be sown directly in the garden. They'll just bloom a little later than ones started earlier. In the Midwest, zinnias and sunflowers always do well when I direct sow them in May.
Great information
Ants are destroyers.
I didn't watch the video but I assume the advice is to not plant any venus fly traps or pitcher plants.
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Are ants a threat to the garden?
Only if they are farming aphids. It can be unnerving seeing a lot of them, but they actually aid in pollinating some plants.