3-10-18 Herbs for Pollinator Conservation Mountainmint Pycnanthemum virginianum By Rees and Meghan Davis Blunt Mountainmint Pycnanthemum muticum Hollow Herbs 3000 Austinburg Road, Ashtabula, OH 44004 Hairy Mountainmint Pycnanthemum pilosum 440-992-8362 [email protected] Scarlet Balm didyma

Why should we care about pollinators? Wild Bergamot Monarda fistulosa • Much attention has been given to the decline of the Spotted Bee Balm Monarda punctata honey bee and Monarch butterflies. Stiff Goldenrod Solidago rigida • Native have also declined in recent decades. • Since most of the 4000 of native bees lead a Showy Goldenrod Solidago speciosa solitary existence, they are difficult to study. Late Goldenrod Solidago gigantea • Native bees pollinate the majority of world crops. Tall Goldenrod Solidago altissima • Honey bees don’t have the ability to “buzz pollinate” which is a requirement for 15,000-20,000 species of Wild Lupine Lupinus perennis flowering . • In our area, pollinators can be bees, wasps, butterflies, Pollinators benefit from mixing native and moths, flies, beetles, and . non-native plants • Bees are the most important group of pollinators. • Many homeowners & institutions have established • Female bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers as rules about including natives and excluding non- food for their offspring and, in doing this, accidentally natives that may not be warranted. transfer large quantities of pollen from flower to flower. • A new school of thought called “near-native” • Both male and female bees feed on nectar, but only landscapes has developed. the females gather pollen to take back to their nests. • Mixed native and non-native plants contain a higher diversity of food resources for pollinators. Native plants • These resources are available over a longer period • Plants that exist in a geographical area without direct and provide a continuous source of pollen and nectar. or indirect human introduction. • They attract more diverse pollinators & increase • Native plants have coevolved with native pollinators. foraging benefits for vulnerable specialist pollinators. • Fostering the interaction between insects and native • See https://www.luriegarden.org for information on plants in the landscape supports a healthy ecosystem Lurie Garden in Chicago. and pollinator population. • Non-native examples include Russian Sage, annual • Small landscapes can play an important role in Little Lucky™ Cream Lantana & sterile Lo & supporting native pollinators when a sufficient number Behold® Blue Chip Butterfly Bush. and diversity of plants are provided. • Diverse plantings also attract beneficial insects that Natives vs. Nativars suppress problem pests. • Are straight native species typically better for • Right – Right Place. Match native plants with pollinators than cultivars or hybrids, so called nativars? most appropriate site conditions. • Hybridization often selects for double blooms, an • Native plants are adapted to local climatic conditions, alteration in flower form, height or flower color change, soils and rainfall. all attributes known to influence pollinator visitation. • Well-placed plants require no added water or fertilizer. • Plant breeding may change the amount of nectar or • Look for plants propagated from locally sourced seed. pollen offered. They have the genetics best suited to local conditions. • In addition to floral traits native cultivars are • Native plants are herbs because they were and are sometimes selected for disease resistance making used by Native Americans for food, medicine, fiber, them more desirable landscape plants. dye, fragrance, and household purposes. • More studies need to be done to understand if native cultivars are comparable substitutions for native Anise Hyssop Agastache foeniculum species and if they can perform the same ecological Nodding Allium cernuum functions in pollinator habitat gardens. • Annie S. White, PhD student in Plant & Soil Science at Butterfly Weed Asclepias tuberosa the University of Vermont studied pollinator visitation Swamp (Rose) Milkweed Asclepias incarnata to native vs. native cultivar species to evaluate their Common Milkweed Asclepias syriaca garden performance and nectar production. Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea • Some native cultivars attract just as many insect nectar, often tubular in shape, with a structure that pollinators as the native species. provides a landing platform. • Conclusions were that the more manipulated the • Bees seem to prefer flowers of white, yellow and blue cultivars became, the less attractive they became to that emit a sweet or minty fragrance. pollinators. • Gardeners can add native and non-native herbs for • If evaluating native cultivars for use in a pollinator pollinators with these characteristics. habitat, try to limit the use of cultivars to seed-grown • Flower grouping of at least 3 feet in diameter of an selections of the native species versus hybrid clones individual species are more attractive to pollinators. with no genetic diversity. • Try to provide nesting sites no more than a few • See https://pollinatorgardens.org/ for more information. hundred feet from forage areas. These sites can • Examples of nativars equally as attractive to include bare soil for ground dwelling bees to trees with pollinators as native species: Golden Jubilee Anise cavities for wood dwelling pollinators and grasses for Hyssop, Hello Yellow Butterfly Weed, and Clair Grace overwintering larvae. Monarda. • Reduce, if not eliminate, the use of pesticides, • Lavendelturm Culver’s Root attracted significantly • Choose plants for a constant supply of new flowers more pollinators than the native Culver’s Root. producing both pollen & nectar to attract the largest • Nativars that we are trialing: Cheyenne Spirit and range of pollinators including bees, butterflies and Magnus coneflower. hummingbirds. • Diversity of plant material is a critical factor in the Culinary Herbs for Pollinators design of pollinator plantings. Research has found that • Though many of our familiar culinary herbs are not when eight or more species are grouped together they native, they can be successfully used to attract attract a greater abundance of pollinator species. pollinators. • Another consideration is the amount of nutrition • Pollinators love herbs because many have compound provided by plants. flowers, perfectly shaped for browsing. Pollinators can • A continuous succession of many types of plants, with work over many flowers in a small area, collecting a variety of flower colors and forms blooming at one more pollen and nectar while conserving energy. time attracts the widest variety of pollinators. • There is an age-old garden adage to harvest herbs • The size of the pollinator, the length of the tongue, the before flowering for the best , but scientific accessibility of nectar and pollen and flower color are evidence does not prove this to be true for all herbs. all factors in determining pollinator preferences. • Italian scientists found that the of garden • You’ll want to know which bees and butterflies visit sage was high in , an undesirable component, your area and then provide the nectar and pollen during the spring. As the plant continued to grow, plants they’ll need and the host plants for their eggs however, the camphor content peaked and then and larvae. Combining both types of plants will help declined. Thus, harvests of sage in July and October you increase the number & variety of pollinators. will produce finer flavor and aroma. • Ignore all those “fall garden cleanup” classes you took when it comes to your pollinator garden. Leave the Parsley Family (parsley, fennel, dill) brown stalks and seed heads standing. Lemon Bee Balm Monarda citriodora • Leave a layer of leaves till the spring for overwintering pollinators and larvae. Pineapple Sage Salvia elegans • The plants collect snow around their crowns and Lavender Lavendula spp. insulate the roots and seed heads provide food for Mint spp. birds. Bees may nest in hollow stems. • They always add winter interest when touched by frost Other herbs for pollinators: , , German and snow. chamomile, calendula, chives, borage,

This presentation; reference list of books, pamphlets, Habitat Design web sites, etc.; and list of native plant nurseries is • Plants and their pollinators have co-evolved to acquire available on the Lake County, OSU Extension website: physical traits that attract one another in a mutual lake.osu.edu/news/2018-home-gardeners-workshop relationship. • The flowering cycles of plants have evolved to be aligned with the life cycles and of their pollinators. • These characteristics form a pollinator syndrome. • The pollination syndrome of bees tells us that they select brightly colored day blooming flowers, full of