Writer / Nancy Craig
“A pollinator is any animal that transfers pollen grains from flower to flower. Bats, butterflies, beetles, bees, hummingbirds, and lemurs, among other species, are all pollinators.” This definition is from a factsheet, “The Facts About Pollinators,” by the Department of Defense National Resources Program.
In this great children’s garden book, How Groundhog’s Garden Grew, by Lynne Cherry, there are wonderful illustrations showing how to make a garden grow from seeds to soil to pollinators. It amuses me that a squirrel shows a groundhog how to not take from his neighbor’s garden but to grow his own vegetables. The characters, Wren and Praying Mantis, said to Little Groundhog, “If you promise not to harm us with bug spray, we birds and insects will help you with your garden. We will eat the harmful insects that hurt your plants.”
Over the two years that I have been writing the “Gardening Nana” articles, my great nieces and nephews and I have made several gardens to attract pollinators like bats and moths in our Moon Garden, butterflies and hummingbirds in our Butterfly Window Box and bees and birds in our Sunflower Fort. Next we will work on making our back yards into wildlife habitats. The Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service has wildlife links to help us get started like this one: bit.ly/CGCN_Purdue_Backyard_Wildlife.
Having said all this, I will be getting a bird netting to cover my blueberries when they start to ripen. I’m not ready to share my first harvest with any creatures yet, but I’m thankful to the bees for pollinating my blueberry plants.
