I have an undergraduate degree in Forestry from Louisiana Tech and Master’s Degree in Forestry from LSU. However, back in those days (late 50s and early 60s) we considered trees as a crop to be harvested for a profit. We thought little of understory plants as being beneficial to the forest. The idea of having pollinator plants got little or no attention. Things have changed a lot since that time. We now view pollinator plants essential to the wellbeing to the trees in the forest.
I have an undergraduate degree in Forestry from Louisiana Tech and Master’s Degree in Forestry from LSU. However, back in those days (late 50s and early 60s) we considered trees as a crop to be harvested for a profit. We thought little of understory plants as being beneficial to the forest. The idea of having pollinator plants got little or no attention. Things have changed a lot since that time. We now view pollinator plants essential to the wellbeing to the trees in the forest.
Now, individuals are interested in planting pollinator plants in their gardens to attract butterflies, moths, other flying insects such as bees, wasps, and other similar insects to their landscape plans.
Here are a few facts that you should know about pollinators:
• USDA says that pollinators are declining in America.
• The Farm Bill in USDA mandates the restoring of pollinators in forest and crop management policies.
• The value of honey bee pollinator to U.S. Agriculture is estimated to be $18.9 billion per year.
• For ideal pollinator habitat, make sure to use native flowers with lots of different flowers of different sizes, shapes, and heights that bloom throughout the growing season.
• 75% of flowering plants in the world rely on pollinators for reproduction.
• Pollinators come in many forms such as: bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, flies, beetles, ants, bats, and hummingbirds.
Below is a list of pollinator plants for the spring season. Later in the year I will write an article on pollinators for the summer season.
March to May – Blue Star, Blue Wild Indigo, Chickasaw Plumb, Dwarf Larkspur, Fire Pink, Foxglove Beardtongue, Purple Beardtongue, Sampson’s Snakeroot, Spider Milkweek, Wild Onion, Golden Alexanders, Indian Paint Brush, Lance Leaf Coreopsis, New Jersey Tea, Ohio Spiderwort, Plains Coreopsis, Rose Verbena, Smooth Sumac, Wild Hyacinth, Winged Sumac, Yarrow, Yellow Wild Indigo.
You are probably wondering where you can find seed for these plants. Here are some wild seed sources:
• Gurney’s Seed Nursery
• Parks Seeds
• Fredericksburg Seed Company, 100 Legacy Drive, Fredericksburg, Texas, 78624 (ask for their catalog).
Narrative and photo provided by Jena native Gale Trussell.
