If the recent warm weather has turned your thoughts toward spring gardening preparations, please heed the following request:
Resist the urge to clean up your gardens until after temperatures are consistently at 50° or above! Many butterflies, bees, and other pollinators are currently overwintering in the dead leaves and hollowed out stems of last year‘s plants. If you clean out your garden now, you will literally be throwing away this year’s beneficial pollinators.
Additionally, as you work out your flower garden and landscaping plans, consider using plants that give sustenance to pollinators. It’s so important to help them thrive! Here are some basic facts we should know about pollinators:
Pollinators include various species of bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds.
Pollinators are essential to nearly all ecosystems.
Pollinators are at risk due to habitat loss, climate change, and pesticide use.
Pollinators assist in plant reproduction and in supporting other species of wildlife.
Pollinators are responsible for approximately one third of the food and drink we consume.
If all that knowledge doesn’t instill sufficient motivation to encourage their well-being, think of the pleasure of observing a butterfly as it glides from one botanical perch to another, or a hummingbird as it darts among the blossoms. God provides well for the nourishment of our bodies and souls through the creatures he designed. We must do what we can to provide for them.
“Butterflies are nature's angels. They remind us what a gift it is to be alive.”
-- Robyn Nola