Million Pollinator Garden Challenge

As most of you are well aware, the bee population worldwide has suffered tremendous losses over the past few years. If you think about that, it’s a pretty scary thing because over one-third of our food exists because bees help to pollinate the flowers. There are other pollinators, too, that have suffered – like butterflies. (Monarch populations, especially, have dwindled.) As gardeners and farmers, we need to do all we can to save and support pollinator populations. That’s why I was very excited to learn about the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge.

According to the Challenge website, the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge is “a campaign to register a million public and private gardens and landscapes to support pollinators.”

Participating in the challenge is fairly easy. I’m already doing several of these things (and, I bet, you are, too); and I’m slowly adding more. Basically, the challenge is asking each of us to help in the following ways:

• Plant a pollinator garden
• Support pollinator-friendly businesses
• Upload a picture of your garden or landscape to their S.H.A.R.E. map, to BEE counted
• Plant sustainably, creating a healthy habitat for pollinators (decrease or eliminate pesticides, for example)
• Spread the word!

I already avoid pesticides and grow organically. I have a bird bath, but I should have a separate water source for bees and butterflies, using marbles to fill the container and give the little guys something to land on. I have flowers in my garden most of the season – vegetables, fruits, and some ornamental flowers – but I’d like to add more pollinator-specific flowers.  (For information on how to attract pollinators, see my articles: Attracting Pollinators: Bees, Attracting Pollinators: Butterflies, and Attracting Pollinators: Hummingbirds.)

For more information on how you can participate in the Challenge, please go to the website, millionpollinatorgardens.org. One step at a time, we can make a difference….and do a world of good.

Let me know if you’re joining the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge.