National Pollinator Week is June 17-23 and is a week to celebrate the thousands of pollinators that help supply our food. From butterflies and bees, to birds, bats and beetles, 35% of the world’s food crops and 75% of flowering plants depend upon pollinators.

To help pollinators thrive:
• Grow flowering plants with different flower sizes, shapes and colors.
Grow plants that bloom at different times of the year to provide a continuous
food supply.
• Add native plants to your yard, since they are hardy and can withstand our summer heat.
• Include host plants to feed caterpillars. Each caterpillar prefers a specific group of plants you can find listed online.
• Add a bird feeder to encourage birds to linger in your yard and a hummingbird feeder for hummers and other nectar-eating birds.
• Provide a water supply by filling a shallow saucer with pebbles and water.
• For butterflies, combine damp sand mixed with compost and local dirt to create a puddling spot where they can sip minerals and water.
• A birdbath or small pond will provide water for birds.
• Provide shelter for pollinators by keeping some shrubs unpruned, adding a bat house, and planting trees and shrubs for roosting and nesting.

Pollinators are special heroes of our food supply. Anything we can do to create a pollinator habitat in our yard not only helps pollinators but also helps us.

***What plants are you growing that feed pollinators? Write a short blog about your favorite flowering plant/s, 200-500 words or longer, and send 1-5 photos you have taken. Add a caption for each photo and the name of the photographer. Email to azgardenblog@gmail.com and it will be posted on the AFGC Greenleaf Blog. Read posted blogs at azgardenclubs.com/blog

By Karen Bowen
Karen is the Pacific Region Butterfly Chairman and member of Yuma Orchid & African Violet Society.

Photo 1 Karen Bowen

35% of our food supply requires pollinators. Honeybees are one of our most important pollinators.

Photo 2 Karen Bowen
Photo-2-Pollinator-Week--Karen-Bowen
There are over 1,000 different native bees that pollinate native plants. This sweat bee is feeding on prickly pear nectar.

Photo 3 Karen Bowen

Hooded orioles feed on insects and nectar. They will feed on orange slices and sugar water in a hummingbird feeder.

Photo 4 Lou Ann Bolton
Photo-4--Karen-Bowen--pollinator-week
Growing flowers in containers is an easy way to provide food for butterflies and honeybees.