Pollinator Week 2024

This year, 2024, Pollinator Week is June 17-23.

Pollinator Week is an annual celebration in support of pollinator health, and a time to be aware and spread the word about pollinators and how we can protect them. 

  

Many US states officially proclaimed this week to be Pollinator Week. Did yours?  Mine did!

https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator-week/proclamations

June is a perfect month of Pollinator Week, at least around here.  The weather is consistently warm, the flowers are blooming and producing pollen and nectar.  Did you know not all flowers produce both?  Nectar is a sweet liquid that attracts insects (and hummingbirds and bats).  Pollen is the male reproductive part of a plant.  Nectar provides sugar for energy to the busy pollinators.  Bees living in colonies collect nectar to bring back to the hive where they convert it to honey.  Each pollen grain contains genetic material that is transported by pollinators (or wind, or humans) to other flowers. Pollen is also a protein rich food for some pollinators.  

Right now, in June, the pollinators are loving these flowers.

Lavender 

Yarrow and Strawberry Mint 

The tiny pollinators swarm all my mints, however right now only the Strawberry is flowering.

Coreopsis

Milkweed (Narrow-leaf is my native)

You can find planting guides here for your region.  It may be too hot right now where you are to plant, but perennials can be planted in fall, and many annual seeds scattered to stratify over winter.  Natives are best of course!  Also, check online to see what lovely hybrid flowers are actually pretty worthless to pollinators.  Those double/triple/etc. petaled petunias, marigolds, and coneflowers?  The nectar producing parts are either non-existent or inaccessible to bees. 

https://www.pollinator.org/guides

Pollinators need all the help they can get.  With all the flowers I have, pollinator friendly, what you won't find me posting photos of much at all are butterflies.  I get very few beyond the Cabbage White.