It turns out that as the climate warms, flowers and insects that evolved together are becoming out of sync. Combined with habitat loss, native insects are struggling to survive. If there are fewer insects, birds will also have problems surviving.
We help our native insects by providing food for birds and nesting sites for both birds and insects, as well as providing gardens with the native plants they need. I can.
It's time to start thinking about what your garden needs for spring pollinators.
When you start adding plants to your list, don't forget about Karex and Poaceae. They are equally important to our native insects and wildlife. They prevent weeds, help with soil structure, and are natural companions to our flowering plants.
Great groundcovers include carex pensylvanica, carex bromoides, carex albicans, carex appalachica, carex radiata, and carex rosea. sedge), carex socialis, etc. (lowwood sedge), carex cherokeensis (cherokee sedge), carex laxiculmis (spreading sedge) and carex laxiculmis 'Hobb' (blue bunny sedge), carex flaccosperma (blue wood sedge), carex woodii (wood sedge).
Good low-growing native grasses are Elagrostis spectabilis (purple loveweed) and Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed), which make excellent ground covers (requires less mulch).
In my garden, I only apply mulch the first year because I don't dig up the grass to create a new garden. Lay out several layers of newspaper and packing paper. I then put a 6-8 inch layer of mulch around some of the plants I decided to put in this new garden. Adding more plants the next year will help the mulch and paper break down better and improve the soil. This is the time to add a good compost such as Leaf Gro mixed with biochar.
For faster results, dig up your lawn, add compost mixed with biochar, and skip mulch altogether. Apply liberal amounts of compost to prevent weeds until the karex, grass and plants are full (the plants are new mulch).
A notable early spring flower is Amsonia taberna montana (blue star), which blooms in light blue flowers in March (sun). Mertensia virginica (Virginia bluebell) blooms in his February (shade). Phlox spirosa (downy phlox) blooms in his February (Sun) month and its fragrant flowers are attractive to pollinators. Also, Senecio Aurea (Golden Ragwort) is one of my favorites of his. Because it's home to more than 17 species of butterflies and moths, blooms in April, and looks great as a groundcover in winter. (Mine stays green all winter.) Packella ovovata (roundleaf ragwort) is also a wonderful early bloomer that also acts as a groundcover and produces yellow flowers in April (in the shade). , and hosts Karefelis borealis (the northern metal mark butterfly). Endangered species.
An even more beautiful perennial spring flower for pollinators is Polemonium reptans (Jacob's ladder). This he blooms in April (in the shade). Anemone canadensis (Canadian anemone), May flower (sun). and Gygia Aurea (Golden Alexander) (sun/shade). Zigia she blooms in May and is a host for swallowtail swallowtail (Papilio black swallowtail) and swallowtail swallowtail (Ozark swallowtail). Penstemon foxglove (Figitalis foxglove) blooms in his June (shade). Coreopsis lanceolata (Lanceleaf coreopsis) blooms in April (solar). Erigeron pulcherus (robin) flowers in May (shade).
Some shrubs that bloom early and attract native pollinators include baptisia australis (blue wild indigo), which blooms in April (shade); ceanothus americanus (New Jersey tea) blooms in his May (shade) and is a host plant for the Celastrina radon (spring azure) and Celastrina neglecta (summer azure) butterflies.
Salix humilus (prairie willow) blooms in April (sun/shade), is a keystone shrub, and is home to over 425 butterflies and moths and over 6 specialist bees. Ilex (winterberry holly) blooms in June (sun/shade) and is a host plant for the caterpillars of 34 species of butterflies and moths.
Viburnum is an essential part of any garden. One of the spring-blooming plants is Viburnum (Arrowwood Viburnum), whose flowering time is May (sun/shade). It is also host to more than 10 species of Lepidoptera. Other excellent viburnums include Viburnum oleracea (blackhaw), Viburnum lentago (nursery berry), and Viburnum acerifolium (maple leaf).
Well, don't forget about the trees. Trees are also important for pollinators. For example, Celsius canadensis (Redbud) blooms in his March (shade) season and has leaves that are important for leafcutter bees to build nests. Prunus americana (American plum) blooms in April (shade) and is a host plant for butterflies and moths, as well as being loved by mining bees. There is alnus serrulate, which blooms in March (sun/shade) and is host to the green comma butterfly.
Fothergilla garden ii (Dwarf Fothergilla) blooms in April (sun/shade) and is a host plant for over 80 species of butterflies. Dogwood (flowering dogwood) is also home to the spring azure butterfly. Their flowers provide pollen for pollinators and their berries are a great food source for birds. Don't forget Celsius canadensis, which has a beautiful lavender color in spring and provides some of the earliest spring nectar for native bees. Cercis is a host plant for several pollinator moths.
