Riffing on first Texas wildflower blooms profiled at Portraits of Wildflowers, I noticed that my garden’s first wildflower is abloom. This wildflower is a common weed according to some, but I love the pretty, purple, pollinator magnet and so do the bees and butterflies. Insects were tucked in this morning, owing to the chill and clouds, but they’ll find this rich source of nectar and pollen when the sun returns and the temperatures warm.
This Spiderwort, Tradescantia, sp., has popped up from last years’ roots at the base of a winter-tawny Big Muhly, Muhlenbergia lindheimeri. That splash of green has been a colorful companion to the muted grass since early December. Now, the green will be topped by rich purple to augment its beauty.
The spiderworts couldn’t have chosen a tougher place to plant themselves. Facing west, these two clusters sit at the curb, not even in the garden-proper. I never water this area, it only receives what bounty the sky delivers. There will be more spiderwort blooms in the coming months–from these two and many others throughout my garden–then the foliage will disappear, the roots in hiding from the long, hot summer. The muhly will provide some coverage, as new growth drapes over the curb and spiderworts’ spot, but this area is hot and dry most of the year.
It has begun, this renewal of life. Birds and squirrels chase their potential partners and rivals; flirtation as the rule of the first kind of chase, establishing territory the point of the second. The main winter clean-up work in my garden is finished, or nearly so, and change in the garden will be a daily, if not hourly, occurrence. Game-on, Spring!
June 16-22, 2025 is Pollinator Week, celebrating the importance and beauty of pollinators. Pollinators share outdoor space with humans (and other critters!), but are in decline due to a variety of factors, including habitat loss, use of chemicals, and climate change.
Checkered White on Zexmenia, Zexmenia acapulcensis
But in your own space of a home garden, in nearby public park or school garden, even a small to medium sized pollinator garden attracts multitudes of pollinator participants and adds a bit more beauty and life to the world.
Fiery Skipper on Gregg’s Mistflower, Conoclinium greggii
It’s easy to attract pollinators–just plant things they like to pollinate! Native plants are always best because they usually require less water and effort, and native plants are appropriate in their range. Also, native plants are beautiful.
White Checkered-Skipper on Four-nerve Daisy, TetraneurisscaposaHoneybee and Grey Hairstreak on Zexmenia, Zexmenia acapulcensisRed Admiral on Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea
Hardy, non-natives are also on many pollinators’ yummy lists, so roses, daylilies, irises and other similar plants are often good choices for a garden.
Metallic Sweat bee on unknown common daylilyLassioglossum, Sweat bee on Martha Gonzales Rose
In most areas of North America, pollinators are active throughout the growing seasons, including winter in some places. Here in Central Texas, I’ve found that pollinators increase in number and variety as spring segues to summer, then morphs into autumn.
Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui sips from a Blue Curl, Phacelia congestaAmerican-basket flower, Centaurea americana, blooms primarily in June and July, providing for many pollinators.
Autumn bloomers are important sources of nectar and pollen before winter sets in. Late summer/autumn blooming perennial shrub, Frostweed, Verbesina virginica, worked by a honeybee, whose corbiculae (pollen pantaloons!) are filled with pollen goodness.
Pollinators and pollinator plants come in all shapes, sizes and varieties. Trees produce flowers for pollinators when they bloom, no matter the season.
Blow Fly, Calliphoridae, pollinating spring blooms of Rough-leaf Dogwood,
Shrubs, perennials, annuals, and ground covers are also in the pollination business.
Ground cover perennial, Gregg’s Mistflower provides for a honeybee. Perennial Engelmann’s Daisy, Engelmannia peristenia, feeds a different honeybee.Autumn Sage shrub, Salvia greggii, hosts a Horsefly-like Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis
Most folks recognize that bees (both honey and native), butterflies and moths are common pollinators. But flies, ants, beetles and true bugs are vital pollinator sources and should be welcomed in any garden space.
Eastern Leaf-footed bug on Soft Leaf Yucca, Yucca recurvifoliaLizard beetle, Languriidae on Four-nerve DaisyEngelmann’s Daisy hosts a Seed Bug, Lygaeidae
To have grown-up pollinators visit your garden, specifically with butterflies and moths, first there must be babies. To feed those young’ns, host plants are required and should be part of any pollinator ecosystem. Yes, foliage will be munched, but it’s a rare event that host plants are eaten to their end by the insects that the host plant nurtures.
Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia fimbriata, with munched leaves from a Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar
Many herbs and common garden plants are host plants for pollinator insects. This is why it’s a BIG no-no to use pesticides: if you spray for caterpillars, or other “bugs” eating the foliage, it’s likely that you’re killing future pollinators. Remember and repeat: most insects are benign, many are beneficial. So skip the stinky aisle in the big box store and avoid pesticides in the garden.
Check out https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org for information on the kinds of host plants specific to butterfly/moth species. It’s a great go-to site for all things butterfly and moth.
Native bees are generally solitary and nest only for their offspring, unlike honeybees who nest in large collectives. Native bees nest in the ground, in wood, and older stems of plants. You can help natives find spots for reproduction by leaving some wood in your garden, by allowing some soil to remain bare, free of plants, mulch, and ground-cover, and also by delaying winter pruning until just before spring growth. You might also want to build bee “houses” or “hotels” which will provide space for many bees to nest.
Blue Orchard Bee, Osmia lignaria filling a nesting hole
In short, most garden plants that flower will attract insects, the good kind, and especially pollinators. There are a few tricks to a successful pollinator garden project, but creating a garden is a learning experience and a creative endeavor. Check out your local plants, see what you like and what would work in your space. There’s a great deal of accessible plant, insect, and design information to help you on the way. To create a pollinator garden, research and learn, then unleash your imagination and artistic self and be prepared to perspire. Then have some gardening fun and help heal the world in your own back yard!
While it still feels like summer (101F on Sunday!), autumn is here. The garden is lush with blooms, marking the second spring that Central Texas enjoys, the welcome blooming bonanza which is the payoff for our long, hot summers. It’s also very dry here; there’s been little rain since sometime in July. I don’t water the garden all that often, but I’m doing so this week.
The pollinators don’t mind either the heat or the drought as long as pollen and nectar are in good supply. I’m witnessing a huge variety of pollinators, all zipping (some crawling!) from bloom to bloom, filling the garden air with whiffs of wings and buzzes galore.
Plenty of American Bumblebees are gathering up pollen for overwintering nests. This one works the rich blue flowers of Henry Duelberg Sage, Salvia farinacea, ‘Henry Duelberg’.
Take a look at her pollen pantaloons! (Correctly known as corbiculae.)
The big showy butterflies are also active. This Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes nectars on luscious flowers of a Mexican Orchid tree, Bauhinia mexicana, the expansive, graceful wings carrying the insect from flower to flower.
Clusters of diminutive white blooms on Evergreen Sumac, Rhus virens, hosts scads of beetles, native bees, skippers, bigger butterflies, and honeybees.
This sumac is now two years old, just over 5 feet tall, and producing its first set of blooms. I’m loving it, as are the pollinators.
I’m not absolutely sure what this handsome critter is, but my best guess is that it’s a Blue-winged Wasp, Scolia dubia. Autumn flowering Frostweed, Verbesina virginica, lures the most interesting and varied pollinators; everyone seems to love these snowy blooms. Many of the pollinators who make their pilgrimage to frostweed in fall are nowhere in the garden at other times of the year. There’s always something that I’ve never seen before.
It’s nice when pollinators share mealtime!
Few Monarch butterflies have come through my garden as they make their way to Mexico and those that have visited were unwilling to participate in photo sessions, wings swooshing away from me in annoyance. Their cousins, Queen butterflies, Danaus gilippus, are common and active and don’t mind a photo–as long as their sipping of the sweet stuff isn’t interrupted. This two-fer spent time on the Plateau goldeneye, Viguiera dentata.
Texas Craglily, Echeandia texensis, attracts bees to its yellow-orange lilies. In particular, bumblebees excel at the hanging-upside-down trick.
Honeybees also grab onto the the stamens of craglilies for their share of pollen and nectar.
Cheerful pink Rock Rose, Pavonia lasiopetala, bobs in the background.
A significant cool front is headed our way, tomorrow and the rest of the week thankfully cooler. No rain is in the foreseeable future. I’m glad my garden is drought-tolerant, packed with native and well-adapted plants, and I’m pleased that it is a respite for wildlife. All wildlife–pollinators included–and this gardener, appreciate the bounty and beauty that these plants offer, especially in stressful times.
My Gardener Says... 