Spring Pollinator Flowers Are Most Often Woody
Metallic green bee and a hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) flower |
Two-winged silverbell (Halesia diptera) |
Honey bee and flowering red maple (Acer rubrum) |
I've carefully chosen the woody plants I've added to my new landscape and it includes a great many spring-flowering species. Most are also important bird plants, but all produce flowers that are significant sources of pollen and nectar. These will sustain my developing pollinator base much more reliably than the patches of Spanish needle (Bidens alba) that I have left in a couple of the out-of-the-way corners.
Not all spring-blooming trees and shrubs are equally important to pollinators, but nearly every species relies on them to produce their fruit. It is a rare flowering woody plant that relies on wind like a pine or a red cedar does. I am not a fan of red maples as a significant wildlife plant, but it cannot be argued it is alive with bees at a time of year when virtually nothing else is blooming. The tiny flowers of oaks (Quercus spp.) attract the attention of a great many tiny pollinating insects and these form a significant food base for migratory birds such as warblers, tanagers, gnatcatchers, and even hummingbirds.
I don't have a lot of room to create a woods of very large canopy trees and the maples and oaks are present close-by. I've chosen to anchor my deciduous woods with a native basswood (Tilia americana) as this tree is also a pollinator magnet and is not represented elsewhere in my neighborhood. Beneath this canopy and along the edges of my new yard, I have added a great many members of the Rosaceae - apples and hawthorns for example. I believe I have 10 species of haws (Crataegus spp.) scattered here and there and I'm hoping most are mature enough to flower, at least a little, in about a month. I've planted a southern crabapple (Malus angustifolia), a flatwoods and scrub plum (Prunus umbellata and P. geniculata), and a pair of common serviceberries (Amelanchier arborea) - all members of the rose family.
I am not aware of any good publication for my region of the world that rates the various woody trees and shrubs for their pollinator value, but I have 33 years of observations to fall back on. There are few better genera than the buckthorns - Sideroxylon spp.; plants that were recently taken out of the Bumelia genus. I have added 4 different species in my new landscape. Hollies are often exceptional as are shrubs in the Florida privet genus - Forestiera spp. and not to be confused with the invasive "privets" that are in completely different genera. Most exceptional among the Ericaeous species (blueberries, azaleas, lyonias, etc.) is sparleberry (Vaccinium arboreum) - literally, the "tree blueberry." I love viburnums (Viburnum spp.) as bird plants, but I never see the level of activity on them as I do on the ones I've mentioned above.
If I had my wish, there wouldn't be "pollinator people", "bird people" and all the other groups of folks who seem fixated on a subset of the living world with their approach to landscaping. Truth be told, all of us need to broaden our designs to create a living landscape that welcomes everything to the extent possible. No more "10 Best Trees" lists or lists of the "10 Easiest Wildflowers." I have striven for diversity above everything else and time will determine if I'm right in doing so, but as I sit here waiting for another Florida spring I know that the woody plants I've added here are the real heart of my spring pollinator garden.
Sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum) is an amazing pollinator magnet |
Thanks for the suggestions. Where I live is already planted with various palms, bananas, and several bird of paradise. Not my land but I am welcome to add and shelter native plants. I found Sida ulmifolia and am sheltering those from the mowers. I bought a coontie and will keep it in a clay pot. I have a monarch chrysalis in a Tupperware until near hatching. Planted wildflower seeds too and will look for more woodies..
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