How to make your yard pollinator friendly

The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy.

Emily Dickinson

According to US Department of Agriculture, one in every three bites of food depends on bees for pollination. See https://www.ree.usda.gov/pollinators

Despite their crucial contributions to our food system, the fate of bees remains uncertain. In North America you are nearly fifty percent less likely to see a bumblebee in any given area than you were prior to 1974.
See https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/bumblebees-going-extinct-climate-change-pesticides?cmpid=int_org=ngp::int_mc=website::int_src=ngp::int_cmp=amp::int_add=amp_readtherest

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You can plant pollinator friendly plants, stop using pesticides, and let flowers (aka weeds) that bees love continue to grow in your yard.

But what plants do pollinators like you may ask? Well, thankfully master gardeners from Penn State performed a four year study to answer just that.

The below chart is a summary of their findings. You can see that clustered mountain mint is the top source for pollinators.

https://ento.psu.edu/news/bees-bugs-blooms-2013-a-pollinator-trial

Another important consideration is buying plants that will cover the entire season.

See the below chart for some helpful information regarding growing seasons and durations.

https://ento.psu.edu/news/bees-bugs-blooms-2013-a-pollinator-trial

But even if you don’t plant native plants, just plant plants! Anything is better than nothing. For instance, the pollinating insects love the lilac in the backyard.

Butterfly in back garden