Idea for Garden

I think I would like to create a pollinator garden. Pollinator gardens are gardens that attract birds and insects that carry pollen to different plants. These gardens mainly consist of flowers, which are easier to maintain than edibles in the coming winter. Some positives of having a pollinator garden are:

- They attract hummingbirds, butterflies and other visually appealing creatures
- Pollinator gardens are visually appealing
- Attracting pollinators can improve local plant life because they will spread pollen throughout the area
- The nectar in the flowers gives the bees, hummingbirds, butterflies etc. the nutrients they need to survive

The materials that we would need for this are:

- Nectar/pollen-rich flowers of all different shapes, colors and sizes
- Flowers that bloom at different times throughout the year so the pollinators have a continuous string of flowers to return to
- Food for the insects and birds, but not too much since we don't want birds of prey coming and eating all of the birds
- Nesting spots for the insects
- Spots for eggs and larva to hatch, this way we could have more bees which are critically important for us as humans to survive
- Water for the flowers and a shallow pool of water for the birds and insects that come by
- No pesticides or chemicals allowed

There are several different pollinators and each one has a different preference for flowers etc. Some pollinators common to Southern California include:

- Bats
- Bees
- Butterflies
- Flies
- Hummingbirds
- Moths
- Pollinating beetles

I think that our garden should probably attract butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. These three are very common to the area that we live in, so we stand a better chance of attracting these creatures. Also, these three are some of the most effective pollinators, and the most visually appealing. Each of these pollinators have their own preference for flowers and plant life.

Bees like yellow, blue and purple flowers. Smaller bees like small flowers, often grouped tightly together. Some flowers that bees, (particularly small ones) like are marigold, butterfly weed and daisies. They also like fragrant herbs.

Butterflies like orange, red, blue, yellow and pink flowers. Butterflies can't keep flying while extracting nectar and pollen, so the need flatter flowers that they can land on top of. Some good examples of these are butterfly weed, daisies, calendula, yarrow and zinnia. They prefer sunny locations, and they need places to lay eggs and larva, so plants like milkweed, lupine, aster, thistle, violets, black-eyed Susan, fennel and hollyhock are good places for them.

Hummingbirds like tubular flowers that are red, orange, and purple/red. They like plants that have a lot of nectar in them, so things like honeysuckle, sage, jewelweed, fuchsia, cardinal flowers, nasturtium, fireweed, bee balm and century plants.

From what I can see, I think that we should definitely bring in some honeysuckle, black-eyed Susan, hollyhock, marigold, butterfly weed, and daisies. These plants handle well in the cold, plus the are exceptionally good pollinating flowers, so they would be perfect for our garden.