Learn the importance of pollinators and how to encourage Texas Pollinators in your garden!

 
If you’re a Texas homeowner, gardening is one of the many things you employ to enhance your curb appeal and make your home a more enjoyable space. But whether you’re growing flowers in your front yard or fruits and vegetables out back, you more than likely have also encountered Texas pollinators working to help your gardening work go the extra mile.

Although some of these busy workers may seem like a grievance (such as bats, moths, wasps, flies, and beetles), many Texan pollinators tend to be favorable sights in your garden! Additionally, they’re an important part of increasing the fullness and lifespan of your plants as well as helping the world’s ecosystem maintain its healthy cycle.

Read on to learn more about pollination and why pollinators are important. We’ll also give you a list of Texas pollinators and talk a little bit about how your garden can contribute to this essential ecological cycle.

Why are pollinators important?

If you’re wondering why pollinators are important and why you should encourage them in your gardens, you simply have to look around! With close to 80% of the world’s plants being pollinator plants, pollinators are an essential part of the continuation and reproduction of most of the world’s plants and crops.

A pollinator’s job is to take the pollen from one plant to another so that it can then fertilize the new plant and give it what it needs to produce its seeds and fruits. They do this by taking the pollen from the male part of a plant (which is commonly referred to as a flower’s anthers) and then transferring it onto the female part of another plant (commonly referred to as the stigma).

However, without the transfer of the necessary pollen, plants and food crops can experience a lack of or stunted growth as well as misshapen fruits and vegetables.

Here are just some of the types of food crops that rely on the fertilizer from pollination:

• Apples
• Citrus like oranges, lemons and limes
• Gourds like squash, pumpkins, watermelon, and cucumber
• Almonds
• Avocados
• Peaches, Pears, Plums, Nectarines, and Cherries
• Vanilla and Cacao
• Okra
• Tomatoes
• Figs
• Coffee
• Berries like blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, cranberries, and raspberries

And that’s only the beginning!

Texas pollinators

While Texas pollinators are what you’ll mainly come into contact with, it’s important to note that there are over 200,000 different types of pollinators in the world. However, due to the different climates and needs of these species, the types of pollinators you’ll actually see varies by location.

Here is a list of pollinators you’re most likely to see in your garden and buzzing around your home!

Bees

Bees tend to be regarded as the king pollinator as they spend most of their lifespans dedicated to pollination and have become some of the best at their craft. Busy and active, bees (such as honey bees and bumblebees) have the ability to collect a high amount of pollen and move it in a fast manner. Honey bees, in particular, although not native to north America, are credited with pollinating close to $15 billion of the world’s crops!

While your standard honey bee might be the most commonly recognized bee in Texas, there are actually hundreds of native bee species that have been helping pollinate plants long before their European cousins arrived. Of our native species, bumblebees are perhaps the most well-known, although they are often confused for the slightly larger carpenter bee. Bumblebees are not known for storing large amounts of pollen and nectar, but their hairy bodies are perfect traps for pollen, making them amazing pollinators. 

It’s important to note that honey bee populations are declining, as are native bee populations. In fact, a recent report from the Center for Biological Diversity and Bombus Pollinators Association of Law Students noted that the “American honey bee has declined by 89%,” causing a nationwide movement for protecting bee pollination and these vital creatures.

Butterflies

If you’re a fan of butterflies, you’ll be happy to know that they’re one of Texas’ most seen pollinators! Unfortunately, while very active throughout the day, butterflies don’t carry the same energy as their bee counterparts.

Due to their body structures, butterflies are not able to carry as much pollen as bees. But they do pollinate and are typically overlooked as pollinators seeing as their focus is on flowers rather than commercialized crops.

Texas is home to around 442 different butterfly species, such as the Red Admiral, Tiger Swallowtail, and Giant Swallowtail. But one of the most interesting butterfly species that help pollinate plants in Texas is the Monarch Butterfly, which migrate from Canada to Mexico each year, using our state as a much-needed resting place along their journey. 

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are another pollinator, like butterflies, known to prefer flowers. When it comes to serious pollination, hummingbirds tend to be the middle ground between bees and butterflies!

High-energy movers like bees, they’re able to hold a good weight of pollen as they flit from flower to flower. But like butterflies, they’re not widely known for indulging in commercialized crops, although they have been known to dabble in the occasional fruit juices of oranges, pears, bananas, etc.

Texas is home to a number of different hummingbird species. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird can be found in the more eastern parts of Texas, including Dallas, Houston, and Austin. In the western portion of the state, such as El Paso and Big Bend National Park, you may find Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, and Buff-bellied Hummingbirds tend to stick to the Gulf coast near cities like Corpus Christi. Yet some, such as the Calliope Hummingbird, only pass by Texas in September and October as they migrate all the way to the Pacific Northwest and Canada (a pretty length journey for such a tiny bird). 

Potentially unwanted pollinators

Although the following pollinators do the same job as the ones above, they’re typically as much less welcome by homeowners:

• Bats
• Moths
• Wasps
• Flies
• Beetles

While there are some methods you can use to keep unwanted pollinators away from your garden and home, it is difficult to selectively do so; most of the methods that keep one away will keep the others away, too. For example, placing mothballs in your garden might keep moths and other unwanted insects away, but it may also prevent bees and butterflies from visiting your flowers, too. 

If you decide to employ a strategy to deter any of these animals and insects, make sure you consider their potential side effects and the impact they may have on pollinators. 

Growing a pollinator garden

With bee extinction being an ever-increasing worry, as well as the ongoing shortage of crops and flowering plants due to the continuing pandemic, you may be considering growing a pollinator garden in your own backyard. And it’s a beautiful idea!

Here are some things to consider as you move forward in finding native pollinator plants to include in your garden:

What attracts pollinators to flowers?

Whether you want to attract bees, butterflies, or hummingbirds, attracting pollinators and building a pollinator habitat for flowers and crops within your garden is simply about knowing the preferences of these pollinators.

A flower’s type, shape, color, odor, nectar, and structure are all important factors here and will determine what you’ll most likely bring out. For example, while some of a butterfly’s favorite colors include purple, yellow, and orange, hummingbirds are primarily attracted to red flowers!

Here are some more specifics:

Flowers that attract bees include: Bee Balm, Black Eyed Susan, Chive Flowers, Perennials, Lupine, Mistflower, Nasturtium, Peony, and Snowdrops. When growing your bee garden, you’ll want to focus on white, purple, yellow, and/or violet flowers.

Crops that attract bees include: Watermelon, apples, cucumbers, plums, and peaches. Bees love fruits and vegetables from sweet nectar plants!

Flowers that attract butterflies: Phlox, Clove Pink, Lantana, Blue Wild Indigo, Perennials, Pot Marigolds, Blazing Star Flowers, and Daylily. Remember, butterflies and caterpillars love purple, yellow, and orange colors!

Flowers that attract hummingbirds: Cardinal flower, Penstemon, Hosta, Agastache, Eastern Red Columbine, Trumpet Honeysuckle, and Salvia. The main thing to remember when growing hummingbird flowers is to choose a hummingbird flower that is tubular and gives them an easy way to hover above it as they pollinate.

Looking for more insight on what flowers hummingbirds, bees, or butterflies like? Click here for an in-depth pollinator trait table from pollinator.org!

How to encourage pollinators

Aside from choosing flowering plants and crops that are easy to grow within your climate and favorable to the pollinator’s liking (such as high in nectar or bright in color), other ways to encourage pollinators in your garden include:

Establish a water source.

Because pollinators need water in order to survive and do their work, it’s a great idea to provide a water source for them within your garden. You can do this by placing shallow bowls or dishes of water in areas that they’d be attracted to drink from, such as a sunny area or a muddy spot where they’d also find a safe harbor.

Give them shelter.

Whether you purchase bee boxes, bird homes, or set aside certain soil areas that go untouched, giving pollinators shelter within your garden that allows them to do their work unharmed will surely encourage them to stay as long as they want!

Stay away from pesticides.

Harmful chemicals within common pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides tend to ward away pollinators. Unfortunately, they can also be incredibly harmful to the environment, your garden, and loved ones who may come into contact with it! Opt instead for more environmentally safe products when tending your garden and killing weeds.

Keep things natural.

Although it may be tempting to bring in rare plant species into your garden, utilizing native plant species and keeping things as natural to our home state as possible is best for pollinators in your area. Of course, they’re here because they love and thrive on the climate, so don’t deviate from that too much.

Grow different things.

With each new season, it’s a great idea to plant different flowers that thrive during the season as these pollinators will enjoy the change and are also ready to adapt to the new climates. In addition, giving them fresh flowers is a great way to keep up with their seasonal taste buds.

Look, but do not touch.

Once your pollinator garden is up and in full bloom, it’s essential to let these busy workers do their job! Coming into contact with them is often what scares them away and encourages them to relocate. Be sure to stay back and encourage your friends and family who may be close to your garden to do the same.

Pollinators are great for your home and the environment!

All in all, pollinators are great for your home and the environment. By bringing pollen to nearby plants within your garden, they not only help them reproduce but also help them bloom more thoroughly and you get the most enjoyment out of your hard gardening work.

Furthermore, with the ongoing food and flower shortages, pollination has never been more needed as farmers and florists around the globe work tirelessly to produce these much-needed items. Growing a pollinator garden is a fantastic way of being part of the solution to this ongoing problem!

 
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