May 19 Column: Pollinator Garden
I’ve been really excited about writing this week’s column and even more so about making our very own pollinator garden. It’s something we’ve been thinking about for the past few years and are finally doing this spring. Here’s a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Create an oasis for pollinators.
I’m pretty most everyone has heard about the plight of the pollinators. With so much real estate development going on, their habitat is vanishing at an alarming rate. And even more worrying is the widespread use of pesticides, which are having a frightening impact on pollinators.
So, what’s a gardener to do? Create a pollinator garden! It isn’t difficult and in my column, I outline the important considerations to remember, especially when selecting plants. While I want you to be sure to choose ones that are hardy in your region, I thought I’d include a list of the plants I’ve put in my pollinator garden, just to give you some ideas. Look for the list below the video.
For this week’s video, I’ve been filming the steps we’ve gone though to create our new garden. Yes, it’s a good-sized garden and we’re are really diving into this project! But no matter what size your pollinator garden is, it will still make a difference.
I wanted to clarify that you don’t have to go the same route as we did. Our goal was to decrease the size of our front lawn, and since we were anxious to get the pollinator garden in place, that meant removing the sod. The front lawn has been there a very long time and there was no feasible way to separate the grass from the soil, because we would be fighting the grass coming up again and again, which would be overwhelming! So we opted to take out the sod.
Another option would be to cover your sod with cardboard, weed-block fabric or black plastic for a year. By depriving the grass of sunlight, it will die and decompose. That way, you wouldn’t have to lose any soil.So if you can wait a year, that would be a good solution.
Take a look:
And here’s the plant list I promised you:
| Common name | Latin name | Height | Water requirements | Flower color | Native |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alum root | Heuchera cylindrica | 12-24" | Medium | Cream | yes |
| Aster, Western | Aster occidentalis | 12-24" | Medium | Pale purple | yes |
| Bee balm, Spotted | Monarda punctata | 24" | Medium dry | Pale purple | yes |
| Bee balm, Western | Monarda menthaefolia | 30-36" | Drought tolerant | Purple | yes |
| Black-eyed Susan | Rudbeckia fulgida | 24-36" | Medium | Yellow | |
| Blanketflower | Gaillardia aristata | 16-24" | Drought tolerant | Gold | yes |
| Butterfly weed | Asclepia tuberosa | 24-36" | Drought tolerant | Orange | yes |
| Catmint | Nepeta siberica | 24-36" | Drought tolerant | Purple | |
| Cinquefoil, Thurber’s | Potentilla thurberi | 15-20" | Medium | Red | yes |
| Coneflower, Bush's | Echinacea paradoxa | 36" | Medium dry | Yellow | yes |
| Daisy, Gloriosa | Rudbeckia hirta | 24" | Drought tolerant | Yellow, some reds or browns | |
| Goldenrod, Canadian | Solidago canadensis | 24-36" | Medium | Yellow | yes |
| Goldenrod, Stiff | Oligoneuron rigidum | 48" | Medium | Yellow | yes |
| White Vervain | Verbena urticifolia | 24-48" | Medium to moist (note: there was a mix-up at the mail-order nursery; they sent white vervain instead of hoary vervain which is more drought tolerant) | Pink | yes |
| Hyssop 'Bolero' | Agastache | 14" | Drought tolerant | Rose-purple | |
| Hyssop, Purple giant | Agastache scrophulariaefolia | 72" | Medium dry | Pale purple | yes |
| Indigo, white wild | Baptisia alba | 24-48" | Medium dry | White | yes |
| Milkweed, Showy | Asclepias speciosa | 24-48" | Drought tolerant | Light pink | yes |
| Milkweed, Swamp | Asclepias incarnata | 24-36" | Drought tolerant | Pink | yes |
| Milkweed, Swamp 'Cinderella' | Asclepias incarnata | 24-36" | Drought tolerant | Pink | yes |
| Milkweed, Whorled | Asclepias verticillata | 24-36" | Drought tolerant | White | yes |
| Oregon Sunshine | Eriophyllum lanatum | 12-24" | Drought tolerant | Gold | yes |
| Penstemon, Cardinal | Penstemon cardinalis | 30" | Drought tolerant | Red | yes |
| Penstemon, Cutleaf | Penstemon richardsonii | 6-36" | Drought tolerant | Pink | yes |
| Prairie Smoke | Geum triflorum | 12" | Medium | Rose | yes |
| Red hot poker | Kniphofia | 20" | Moist to medium | Orange/yellow/red | |
| Sneezeweed | Helenium | 12-36" | Drought tolerant | Yellow, some reds | |
| Yarrow 'Coronation Gold' | Achillea | 30-36" | Medium dry | Gold |