Take a walk through the pollinator garden and learn:

... why pollination is so important.

... which creatures are the best pollinators.

... how plants attract pollinators.

... why people depend on pollinators.

The Pollinator Garden is a lively and active area in the Demonstration Garden. It, along with the Monarch Way Station, have been designed to attract and support a myriad of pollinators, including natives and those that migrate through on their way to overwintering grounds. The two gardens are symbiotically connected and strive to advance landscape design and gardening practices that promote the development of essential habitat requirements for pollinators of all types and throughout all seasons.

Started in 2012/13 the Pollinator Garden was designed to replicate garden spaces and gardening opportunities that represent residential and small site. Using a variety of native plants and flowers, the variety of pollinators supported is impressive. The simple and compact beds have been designed to inspire visitors to install pollinator friendly landscapes at home as well as study pollinators in further depth on site. It provides opportunities to encounter pollinators up close in an intimate garden setting and creates an atmosphere for learning and contemplation. These close encounters strive to promote a newfound appreciation of and interest in pollinators in the garden.

Sources of food, water, natural shelter, and enough space to allow pollinators to raise their young are all around the garden and outside in the perimeter areas. In the garden mailbox there is educational information regarding species, their critical function in the garden and environment, their relationship to food production, and the impact of human activity on the decline of pollinators and its long-term consequences.

Each of the four beds provide examples of plants and garden designs that promote pollinator habitat. This includes gateways and paths (formal and informal), plant material (ornamental trees, shrubs, and perennials), garden spaces and planters/urns, water collection and sources, seating areas, and teaching spaces.

Descriptive information is provided throughout the garden to identify plant material and their connection to pollinators. Future planning for the garden includes posting a history and narrative about pollinator gardening, along with more information about native pollinators. The bench is used for small discussions, quiet contemplation, or observation of how pollinators interact with the garden. Just north of the Pollinator Garden is the central seating area which gives visitors access to other areas in the demonstration garden outside, including, on the other side of the large barn, the apiary. It is wonderful to know that the Pollinator Garden is supporting the local honeybees along with native bees, bumble bees, moths, butterflies, flies, beetles, larvae, and a variety of birds.