September is national honey month and we can’t celebrate honey without honoring bees. At Baton Roots, our farmers love seeing bees and other pollinators. In fact, the farmers intentionally plant pollenizers, plants that provide pollen, to attract pollinating insects. Let our farm manager Hannah Wascomb tell you why.
1. Why is it important to plant pollenizers?
Pollenizers help attract beneficial insects to your garden. They attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects to the areas where produce is grown. They attract more beneficial insects to the area where you have planted vegetables or fruit that need pollination to produce.
2. What are the benefits of planting pollenizers?
Pollenizers not only add beauty and color to your garden but also attract all kinds of beneficial insects needed for pollination of your garden crops. The higher number of pollinators in your garden gives you a higher chance of your produce being pollinated more consistently and producing more to harvest!
3. What types of plants are beneficial to pollinators?
Flowers are of huge benefit to pollinators, specifically native flowering plants! Flowers are everywhere so pollinators are everywhere - including on shrubs, bushes, vines, trees, herbs, common weeds, and even grass!
4. What tips do you have for local growers wanting to attract more pollinators to their garden or farm?
The wider variety of plants will attract more pollinators. It's important to keep pollinator plants blooming through the whole growing season. In addition, keeping the flowers in close proximity to your crops is beneficial to the pollinators to have less distance to travel between plants.