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What’s the Buzz? How to Understand—and Boost—Pollination in Your Garden for a Great Harvest - National Garden Bureau

What’s the Buzz? Boost Pollination in Your Garden for a Great Harvest

Backyard Habitat, Garden Planning & Design, Planning and Design, Pollinator Gardening
Birds do it. Bees do it. So do bats, ants, moths, and beetles. Even wind and water get in the game. If you thought we were talking about “The Talk”—you know, that uncomfortable birds-and-bees, cringy parent/child chat, you’d be almost correct…because pollination is about S-E-X. Plant sex, that is. But don’t worry: this PG version...
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The Ultimate Guide to Water-Wise Gardening and Wildflowers

The Ultimate Guide to Water-Wise Gardening

Backyard Habitat, How-to, Planning and Design, Pollinator Gardening
The importance of making water-wise choices has become very apparent with the spread of climate change. It is becoming more difficult to grow certain crops, maintain landscapes, and enjoy various recreational activities as water availability wavers and heat threatens popular crop growing. Across the country, people continue to make garden choices that can help conserve...
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Surprising Facts about the Inner World of Bees, the Insect You Thought You Knew

Surprising Facts about the Inner World of Bees, the Insect You Thought You Knew

Pollinator Gardening
In What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities of Bees (Island Press, March 7, 2023), pollination ecologist Stephen Buchmann brings readers into the mysterious, fascinating minds of bees and introduces the scientists and researchers uncovering their alien ways of seeing the world. Although bee brains are incredibly small—just one million neurons compared...
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Contemplating No Mow May?

Backyard Habitat, Pollinator Gardening
Make an informed decision with the help of our experts before jumping on this social media craze! The concept behind No Mow May is to create a temporary habitat for early-season pollinators by not mowing your lawn. Founded in the UK, this trend may not be appropriate for all regions of North America in the...
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10 Tips for Successful Pollinator Plantings - National Garden Bureau

10 Tips for Successful Pollinator Plantings

Pollinator Gardening
The colorful posters with a collection of common herbs are a popular social media share. Save the bees, they say; plant these. I’ve been known to peek at those lists and note to myself – I could use a few more hyssop plants in my apiary – but that well-meaning call to action widely misses...
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10 New Plants to Create a Multi-Season Hummingbird Haven

10 New Plants to Create a Multi-Season Hummingbird Haven

Pollinator Gardening
Is there anything more entertaining than watching the aerobatic antics of hummingbirds? Whether they’re visiting for a sip of sugar water at the feeder, zooming through the garden (where you’ll often hear their whirring wings before you see them), or engaging in an aggressive chase with a rival, hummingbirds provide hours of enjoyment. (Who needs...
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Pollinator Predicament: What happens when the birds and bees can't do it? - National Garden Bureau

Pollinator Predicament:

Pollinator Gardening
What happens when the birds and bees can’t do it? When it comes to birds, bees, plants, and pollination, timing truly is everything. And, in the Rocky Mountains, where short summers dictate extreme synchronicity, the timing is off. Less snow and earlier springs may be a blessing for those of us who tire of winter...
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Flower Power in the Garden - Help pollinators with these tips | National Garden Bureau

Flower Power in the Pollinator Victory Garden

Pollinator Gardening
Flowers are some of the most important food sources for pollinators, but there’s more to it than planting flowers and waiting for pollinators to appear. A successful Pollinator Victory Garden achieves a balance between two seemingly disparate principles: plant diversity and plant sufficiency. Your garden needs to have a wide variety of plant species in...
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