Secret Life of Pollinators

    When you hear the word “pollinator”, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Maybe the “Save the Bees” movement, or maybe a “pollinator patch” you’d pass on the side of the highway. Pollinators have a huge job, as they are the animals that are essential for the reproduction of many flowering plants, including the ones that end up on your dinner plate!

What is pollination?

    Pollination is the act of fertilizing a plant, which is essential for the growth of fruit & seeds that assist with the reproduction of the plant. According to pollinator.org, between 75% and 95% of all flowering plants need help with pollination! In order for those plants to flower, pollen from a flower’s stamen (male part) must be transferred to a flower’s pistil (female part). This process leads to fertilization, then the development of fruits and seeds. Plants can be pollinated in many ways, including by wind, water, animals, and self-pollination. 

What is a pollinator?

    We know about bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies, but would it surprise you to know that bats, beetles, and squirrels can also be pollinators? Insects, mammals, and aves alike can be pollinators, although they have different ways of pollinating. 

• For mammals, transfer of pollen between plants is a byproduct of their feeding, nesting, or active behaviors. 
• Aves & insects, such as birds, bats, and bees, transfer pollen unintentionally by feeding on the nectar of the plants. As they are collecting nectar, the pollen from the male flower’s stamen gets stuck to their little legs or feathery faces. As they continue visiting plants, the pollen drops off into the female flower’s pistil, fertilizing it. 

How does pollination happen? 

    Let’s go through the process of pollination, using cucumbers as an example. Cucumber plants are monoecious plants, meaning they have separate male and female flowers on the same plant. 

• A worker bee is attracted to the bright yellow flowers and works to harvest the nectar off of the cucumber flowers. 
• While collecting, the bee rubs on pollen, getting the sticky substance on her fuzz. 
• Once she is done collecting from one flower, she will fly to the next and repeat the process. 
• As she feeds, she is introducing pollen from the male stamen to the female pistil.
• Now that the pollination is complete and the female flower has been fertilized, the fruit of the plant, a cucumber, will grow out from the flower!

Why are pollinators important?

    Can you imagine a whole foods diet without your favorite veggies such as broccoli, corn, or green beans? Take out any fruits like strawberries, melons, berries, and apples. And forget about vanilla, nuts, chocolate, and coffee! Essentially all that is left on your dinner plate would be poultry, pork, or cattle. But wait, those animals also rely on pollinators for their diet of corn and grains too!

    The majority of plants require pollination to be able to bear fruit. This makes pollinators essential for the world’s food supply. Further than that, without pollinators, all of Earth’s ecosystems would collapse. You could say pollinators make the world go ‘round!

    “Save the bees” is a movement that aims to raise awareness to the declining bee populations. Many times, honeybees are on the forefront of the movement, but native bee populations are in just as much danger with further consequences. Native bees specialize in pollinating native plants, and with the decline in their population, we can expect the decline in those native plant populations to follow. 

How to support pollinators?

Gardeners, expert and novice, should understand the importance of pollinators. But what can we do to help them out? 

    One way to support these animals is by planting native! All pollinators benefit when you install plants that are native to the surrounding area. Planting native maintains the ecological diversity needed for a healthy local ecosystem, and they’re also relatively low maintenance because they have withstood our weather conditions in the area for centuries. Sunshine Garden Center sells a variety of plants native to this region like butterfly weed, big bluestem, coneflower, blazing star, and varieties of milkweed. 

    Another way to support pollinators is to plant pollinator friendly trees, shrubs, and flowers. These plants aren’t native to the region, but they provide necessary energy and habitat for pollinators so they can keep doing their jobs. Sunshine’s perennial pollinator friendly plants are marked on the tag with a butterfly. Some of these plants include malva, honeysuckle vine, lupine, fruit trees, and gaillardia. 

    Want more info or need help choosing some pollinator friendly plants? Stop by Sunshine Garden Center in Diamond, IL and ask for Courtney, or continue reading our Pollinator Week posts.