Blooms for Spring Pollinators
Blooms for Spring Pollinators
By Derek Yarnell, Master Gardener
Let’s cut right to the chase with the bad news: global insect populations are on the decline1 and this is not good ecologically or economically since insects play a major role in pollinating both wild and commercial plants. Even in the prairies, where many of our native plants are wind-pollinated, we still rely on our insect friends for this critical service.
And now for the good news: as a passionate gardener you have an outsized opportunity to help. I am in the River Heights / Tuxedo Master Gardener Study Group, and as I walk about our neighbourhood, I see yard after yard with practically nothing to support pollinators. Instead, I see landscapes consisting of large lawns and non-flowering shrubs and trees. With this in mind, every action you take to support pollinator populations really does make a tremendous difference. Here are some ways you can help, with an eye to spring pollinators in particular.
Avoid pesticides
By avoiding the use of pesticides (both insecticides and herbicides) in your own garden and in your volunteer projects, you help keep existing insect populations healthier.
Don’t clean up too much
This fall, consider leaving leaves on your property. Last year, for the first time, I had all the leaves from my lawn added on top of my garden beds and none of the plants in my garden had trouble pushing up though this nutritious mess which broke down quite quickly in the spring. Not only is this good for overwintering pollinators but also for soil quality.
If you leave up the stalks of your spent perennials, you are creating habitat for cavity-nesting bees and other insects that will make them their homes.
Choose carefully
By choosing pollinator-friendly plants, you are helping to restore habitat which has become degraded and fragmented.
Spring Bulbs
Some of the earliest blooming plants in our gardens are spring bulbs. I was sad to learn a few years ago that most spring bulbs are heavily hybridized and don’t robustly support pollinators. In my garden, alliums are hands-down the winner. Happily, they can bloom from early to late spring (and yes, even into summer) depending on the variety.
Sticking to unhybridized bulbs such as species-variety tulips can help ensure you are choosing plants which have retained their pollen and nectar. Since Narcissus pseudonarcissus, or wild daffodil, is still in its natural state, it is a great choice if you are looking to add an early season pop of yellow. When selecting your bulbs, take the time to do a quick internet search to understand what kind of relationship they have with pollinators, if any.
While the Siberian squills I planted years ago do attract pollinators, I have read this non-native can be invasive and have seen evidence of it, with some having escaped their garden habitats, growing in the woods in Assiniboine Park. Knowing this, I would not add them again into my garden despite their beauty.
Shrubs
In my own yard, I have Saskatoon berries (Amelanchier alnifolia) and a sour cherry tree (Prunus cerasus) which sustain early pollinator populations. Others to consider include narrowleaf meadowsweet (Spirea alba), leadplant (Amorpha canescens), indigo bush (Amorpha fruticosa), dwarf false indigo (Amorpha nana), speckled alder (Alnus rugosa), hawthorn (Crataegus chrysocarpa), wild plum (Prunus americana), pincherry (Prunus pensylvanica), western sandcherry (Prunus pumila besseyi), wild black currant (Ribes americanum), downy arrowwood (Viburnum rafinesquianum), highbush cranberry (Viburnum opulus var. americanum), nannyberry (Viburnum lentago), and a variety of dogwoods.
Herbaceous perennials
I have wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) which pollinators enjoy and a burgundy double-flowered columbine which they avoid, which is common with double-flowered plants. Tall bluebells (Mertensia paniculata) have been proliferating nicely in my yard since I added them two years ago and get absolutely covered in bees to the delight of my two-year-old neighbour.
While blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium montanum) didn’t survive in my heavy clay soil, in more appropriate conditions this diminutive member of the iris family supports a variety of pollinators. I also have three-flowered avens (Geum triflorum), cut-leaf anemone (Anemone multifida), golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) and heartleaf Alexander (Zizia aptera), the latter two being host plants for the gorgeous black swallowtail butterfly. I planted the Alexanders together and learned this spring that the golden prefers more moisture than the heartleaf. Hopefully, it will like its new spot better next spring and bring butterflies to the yard.
The violets in my garden include Western Canada (Viola canadensis) and crowfoot (Viola pedatifida). Others to choose from include the downy yellow (Viola pubescens), northern bog (Viola cucullata), and early blue (Viola adunca).
Another native plant that pollinators and I both love is the gorgeous wild iris (Iris versicolor) which supports a variety of bees.
Since I do not have sandy, well-drained soils, I do not grow prairie crocus (Anemone patens) but if you have the right conditions, our provincial flower will be a treat for both you and your pollinators. This summer, I was gifted some pussytoes (Antennaria parvifolia), which I look forward to seeing bloom next May as food plant for American painted lady butterfly caterpillars.
While you may not think of flax as a spring bloomer, mine was certainly blooming in the first week of June (and has continued through to early August).
Another June-blooming native is Philadelphia fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus), which as you can see is popular with pollinators.
A somewhat aggressive native I have been interplanting with my bishop’s goutweed to give it a run for its money is Canada anemone (Anemone canadensis). And, finally, I have northern bedstraw (Galium boreale), though I may have it in too deep shade as it has not bloomed after two years, much to the disappointment I am sure of the bees, flies, beetles, and butterflies that enjoy them.
Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) is another native I did not have luck with, given I don’t have conditions as moist as it would prefer, but if you do, you’ll support a wide variety of pollinating bees, flies, and even pollinating ants.
If you are interested in visiting a pollinator garden, I hope you will consider joining your fellow Master Gardeners and Interns to visit my gardens this September 7th between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm. Some of the spring-blooming plants I’ve mentioned will be long gone and yet others will still be standing strong although their blooms have passed. There are many summer and fall blooming plants to discover which we have not touched on which I am sure would be delighted to show themselves off.
- https://earthwatch.org/global-pollinator-watch
View Derek Yarnell’s related posts on Tik Tok …
Virginia Bluebell
Bee on Allium
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Bee on Squill
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