Tag Archives: pollinator gardens

Add Your Piece to the Patchwork of Prairie Gardens

Posted on by Scott Vogt

We are experiencing a paradigm shift that is sweeping across the country.  People are becoming increasingly aware of the natural world and their ability to impact it.  If we begin establishing landscapes that appeal to us aesthetically, but benefit wildlife ecologically, we can have the best of both worlds.

Each of us has the opportunity to develop a native wildlife habitat, to design your garden in such a way that attracts pollinators and wildlife, and to create a safe space for depleted and endangered native bees and Monarchs to find the food they need to survive.  This is a small way you can show you care.  It is one way you, along with others in your neighborhood, can develop prairie gardens that are refuges for these beneficial insects.  Even a small garden can have an impact.

(If you are interested in or are searching for native plants, peruse our 2017 Native Plant Guide and Plant List and plan to attend our 2017 Spring FloraKansas Plant Sale.)

Monarchs

Statistics show that the monarch butterfly population in North America has declined by over 90% in just the last 20 years.  This is disheartening.  One of the biggest factors in monarch decline is the increasing scarcity of its only caterpillar host plant: milkweeds. Monarchs can’t successfully reproduce, or migrate without milkweeds, resulting in the species decline. If you plant even a few milkweeds in your own garden, you can help reverse the fortune of these beautiful insects.  You can be part of the ultimate solution, which is to provide the plants monarchs need for their life cycle.

Pollinators

The plight of the honey bee and the loss of entire hives has garnered nationwide attention.  However, many of our native bee populations are in danger too.  Scientists continue to track dwindling populations of native bees, including the possible extinction of some species.  The native pollinators are key components of a healthy ecosystem.  The use of pesticides and insecticides, habitat loss, along with the introduced diseases threaten their lives.  These bees often lack season-long food sources, which is obviously important to their vitality.

Bumblebee on Echinacea purpurea – photo by Janelle Flory Schrock

Many different pollinators face these realities.  Native plants can help us alleviate some of the problems they face.  Native plants have the ability to grow in our soils, are adapted to the climate, look attractive, control erosion, create beneficial habitat and are the preferred food source for many of these pollinators.  By establishing prairie gardens that use native prairie plants, we can improve their plight in this world.  Recognizing that we can make a difference should be motivation to at least begin to help them.

Stewardship and conservation can start with our gardens.  Despite size limitations, these prairie gardens are an important part of conserving the prairie and the wildlife that depend on them.  You might be surprised how much your garden can do to reverse some of these trends.  Imagine your garden combined with hundreds of other small prairie landscapes.  True, it is not the expansive prairies of the past, but it does make a difference.  Your garden can be a piece of the patchwork of prairies.

Five Garden Trends for 2017

Posted on by Scott Vogt

Garden Retreats

We live in a connected, fast paced digital world.  We need places to disconnect and unwind.  Green spaces surrounded by nature have been shown to calm the anxiety of a stressful life.  Outdoor activities such as playing in the garden or sitting around a fire pit sipping on your favorite drink are growing in popularity.  With less connection to the natural world and longer work hours, relaxing places to land at the end of the day are really inviting.

Pollinator Gardens

This trend isn’t a new one, but a continuation from the past few years as we try to address the plight of pollinators.  Whether planting milkweeds for Monarchs or stunning wildflowers for bees and butterflies, your garden can be a part of the solution.  Pollinator gardens don’t have to be limited to native plants. Other herbs or vegetables can be grown as well.  Every garden, no matter the size, can make a difference.  Not only will you be rewarded with the beauty of the wildflowers, but pollinators and other wildlife will thank you with their presence in the garden.  If you plant for them, they will come.

Strategic Lawn Areas

It has long been the American dream to have a large, beautiful, green lawn, a show piece of how we can manipulate the landscape.  However, perceptions are changing.  There is a realization about the potential environmental impacts of a traditional lawn and a renewed sense of stewardship and conservation.   Native grasses such as Buffalograss and Blue Grama are great alternatives to fescue and bluegrass for sunny areas.  The deep roots of these grasses make them less dependent on water.  Don’t get me wrong.  I believe lawns will always have a place in our landscapes, maybe just a smaller place than in the past.  It is not a bad thing to shrink the lawn with encroaching trees, shrubs and other perennials.

Edible Gardens

Increasingly, consumers want to know where their food comes from and how it is raised.  They are concerned about chemical use, the environment and food waste among other things.  This awareness has caused more and more people to plant gardens in backyards where they can control all aspects of how their food is grown.  These gardens are easy to start and can be as simple as a small raised bed or a few containers on your deck.

Valuing Native Plants

This trend fits the mission of the Arboretum quite well.  The prairie landscape can be brought home to your garden by matching the right plant with your site.  This landscape trend mimics the natural world around us.  It gives your garden a sense of place.  Let native plants be the anchor for your native design.  Incorporate native grasses (another garden trend) such as ‘Northwind’ Switch as backdrops for other wildflowers which bloom at different times throughout the year.  The true value of native plants is worth the experience whether they are viewed up close in your own garden or atop a windswept hill in the Flint Hills.