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<DIV><FONT size=2>There was a well written article about gardening to
support native pollinators in the Halifax Herald on Sunday.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG>Protect native pollinators</STRONG><BR>Butterflies,
moths, beetles important for the health of province’s gardens<BR>By JODI DELONG
The real dirt</FONT><FONT class=Content_body-links></DIV><FONT size=2>
<DIV><FONT size=2>May 6th, 2007; Chronicle-Herald (Halifax, NS)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>See the article at: </FONT><A
href="http://thechronicleherald.ca/AtHome/833681.html"><FONT
size=2>http://thechronicleherald.ca/AtHome/833681.html</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>PEOPLE ARE talking about a topic that’s been in the news of late, having to
do with honeybees that are going missing from their hives. </FONT></DIV>
<P><FONT size=2>Like most, I know very little about Colony Collapse Disorder,
other than I am worried for beekeepers and for those who rely on honeybee
colonies to help pollinate their crops. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>The story got me thinking, however, about pollinators in
general. Pollinators are organisms that move pollen from one flower to another,
allowing fertilization to take place, which leads to seed or fruit
production.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Mind you, pollinating insects aren’t performing this task
altruistically. They’re looking for nectar to feed themselves, and in the
process of moving from flower to flower, transfer pollen. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>While honeybees are certainly important, they aren’t native to
the Americas – colonists brought them here from Europe. There do exist, however,
many different types of pollinators that are native to our country, including
hover flies, various bees, butterflies, moths, and some beetles. Hummingbirds,
too, are important pollinators, though they are only part-time
residents.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>However, like so many creatures, native pollinators are
threatened, primarily through loss of habitat and pesticide use.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Why should we be concerned about native pollinators? Aside from
the concern over loss of biodiversity, these creatures are important in
cultivated crops as well as in natural habitats.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation estimates that
native insects pollinate some $3-billion US worth of crops in the United States
each year in an industry worth $20 billion US.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>While I couldn’t find comparable figures for Canadian crops,
it’s safe to say that native pollinators perform an equally important role here.
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>More of us are developing gardens that are wildlife friendly. In
many cases, the wildlife we’re primarily focusing on are birds, perhaps some
reptiles and amphibians, and butterflies.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>But the same sorts of things we do to attract these types of
wildlife will also help encourage native pollinators and other beneficial
creatures to visit our gardens.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Flora Cordis Johnson is a writer, wildlife-friendly gardener and
natural landscaper who moved to Nova Scotia from the U.S. West Coast a few years
ago. She is a font of wisdom when it comes to gardening for wildlife and helping
to preserve native species of all kinds.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>She explains the importance of native pollinators to an
ecosystem: "Plants and their pollinators are adapted to one another in ways that
have evolved over many hundreds of years." </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Consequently, "the flowers of some plants are constructed in
such a way that they primarily feed certain types of pollinators (and) others
are constructed to feed other types of pollinators." </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>What can we gardeners do to help encourage native pollinators?
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Johnson offers a number of pointers to help us:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>•Plant a lot of native or very old-fashioned species, sometimes
called heritage, heirloom, or cottage garden flowers.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>•Plan for your garden to have various flowers in bloom from
spring to fall.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>•Use plants that produce flowers in a wide range of colours.
Different pollinators are attracted to different colours.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>•Use plants that produce flowers with a variety of
shapes.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>•Don’t use pesticides.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>•Leave areas of bare soil for bumblebees to nest in.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>•Leave an area of the garden "wild," allowing wild plants –
sometimes called weeds – to flourish without mowing or other maintenance.
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>While it’s easy for a rural gardener like myself to leave parts
of our property wild (you should see the expressions on some visitors’ faces
when they see my cherished patch of nettles). It’s more difficult for a suburban
gardener to develop a wild patch in their garden. You can try tucking your wild
patches in behind more "decorative" looking shrubs or plants, preferably species
that are pollinator friendly. It also helps to talk with neighbours to explain
what you’re doing, and just maybe they’ll buy into the idea and do something
similar in their yards, too.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>While you may be attracted to many of the new cultivars of
perennials and annuals on the market, bear in mind that not all are
pollen-producing. I compensate for my passion for trying new species and
cultivars by incorporating more native varieties in amongst them.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>( </FONT><A href="mailto:jdelong@herald.ca"><FONT
size=2>jdelong@herald.ca</FONT></A><FONT size=2>)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Jodi DeLong is a gardener, freelance writer and speaker living
in Scots Bay. She believes you should just say no to goutweed.</FONT></P></FONT>
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<DIV><FONT
size=1>______________________________________________________</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG>The Xerces Society for Invertebrate
Conservation</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>The Xerces Society is an international
nonprofit organization that </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>protects the diversity of life through
invertebrate conservation. </FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>To
</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>join the Society, make a </FONT></FONT><FONT
size=1>contribution</FONT><FONT size=1>, </FONT><FONT size=1>or read about our
work, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>please visit </FONT><FONT size=1><A
href="http://www.xerces.org/">www.xerces.org</A>.</FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Matthew Shepherd</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Director, Pollinator Conservation Program</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>4828 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97215,
USA</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Tel: 503-232 6639 Cell: 503-807 1577 Fax: 503-233
6794</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Email: </FONT><A href="mailto:mdshepherd@xerces.org"><FONT
size=1>mdshepherd@xerces.org</FONT></A><FONT size=1> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT
size=1>______________________________________________________</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1></FONT> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>