Surveying pollinators on native plants - Mother Nature's Backyard |
It’s
summer and the Gardena Willows Wetland Preserve is literally buzzing with
activity. Butterflies and other pollinators
are busily making nests, collecting food and setting up housekeeping. Now is
one of the best times to visit the
Preserve. Whole families can participate in the interesting activities that take place this
time of year.
Pollinators
are butterflies, bees, flies and other creatures that pollinate the flowers of
fruits, vegetables and other foods.
These plants can’t produce if they aren’t pollinated. In fact, about 80% of all flowers require living
pollinators; without them our lives would be less colorful, less fragrant – and
hungrier. We owe our pollinators a huge debt of
gratitude.
Recent
visitors to Mother Nature’s Backyard garden (located in the Preserve) were
amazed at the number of hummingbirds, butterflies and other insects visiting
the flowers. No wonder the garden and Preserve produce lots
of native fruits and seeds! The staff
of Mother Nature’s Backyard can help you make your own home garden more
productive by attracting native pollinators.
Just ask for suggestions.
On
a recent Sunday, teams of ‘citizen scientists’ surveyed the pollinators
visiting several native plants. Their results will be compiled to give us a
better idea of important pollinators in local gardens. Anyone who visits the garden from now through
October can participate in the survey; just ask for a survey clipboard at the
garden. You can
also take the survey at home (see http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/06/citizen-scientist-2013-mother-natures.html
for details).
July
is ‘Butterfly Celebration Month’ at the Preserve. A great way to experience local butterflies is
to take a butterfly walk with Tracy Drake (Manager/Naturalist, Madrona Marsh). Ms. Drake will lead a butterfly walk on July
14th at 1:00 p.m. You’ll see
butterflies in their natural surroundings.
You will also learn how to capture butterflies without hurting them and
get to photograph them up close. This is
a great activity for families. Visitors will receive a handout with colorful
pictures of local butterflies and a brochure on home butterfly gardens.
Learn
more about pollinators at:
No comments:
Post a Comment