The Good Life – July-August 2023

POLLINATORS
AT HOME
IN YOUR YARD
WRITTEN BY: JEFFREY MILLER
Everyone can help provide habitat and food for
pollinators, no matter how large or small!
IIt’s no secret that pollinating insects have
been struggling. Our environment has
become less appealing to them, with
monoculture lawns, clean farming practices
and a dearth of native flowering plants. All
is not lost, however, as there are many ways
that homeowners can help provide food
and habitat for these important organisms.
Perennial Woody Plants
Woody plants are great pollinators that can also
provide fruit for the table. Before planting any shrub
or tree, first determine the mature size of the plant.
While a bare-root seedling may look small, placing
it too close to a house, garage or street will lead to
problems as it grows.
Black chokeberry, also known as aronia, are compact
fruiting shrubs that burst forth with white flowers in
the late spring. Growing to six feet high by six feet
wide, these native shrubs are as beautiful as they are
productive. In the early fall, the fruit ripens in bunches,
ready for the picking. While they are astringent fresh,
aronia berries make great smoothies, juice and pies.
Another wonderful native shrub that aids in providing
pollinator habitat is the highbush cranberry. While
it’s a viburnum and not a true cranberry, this shrub,
which can reach up to ten feet tall, produces copious
amounts of bright red berries in the fall. During
the summer, the flowers attract a diverse group of
pollinators. The flowers are unique in that they have
both sterile and fertile blooms on each flower. The
fruit sweetens after a few frosts, making it among the
last to be harvested in the fall. Made into jelly, it is
quite delicious. If they aren’t harvested by humans, the
berries provide important food for birds in the dead of
winter. The only drawback to highbush cranberry fruit
is that, during cooking, the odor is not unlike that of
sweaty gym socks. Hold your nose and enjoy the jelly!
Perennial Forbs
Non-native and cultivars of forbs and grasses appeal
to human eyes but offer little for pollinating insects.
8 | THE GOOD LIFE