A Deep Dive into Pollination & Inviting Pollinators to Your Garden

Introduction

Pollination is a word most people have heard before, but they probably don't know just how extensive the subject can get. This blog post will cover everything I have learned about pollination in my short time as an ecology student, and hopefully give you some helpful tips on inviting pollinators to your garden.

Let's start at the very beginning, shall we? 

The Biology of Pollination

Pollination is how flowers are fertilized to produce seeds. Flowers are made up of female and/or male parts so that this can happen. Some plants produce flowers with only male parts and other flowers with only female parts, while some plants produce flowers with both male and female parts. 

Image Source: Carlson Stock Art

The main male organ involved in pollination is the anther, as they contain pollen. The main female organ involved in pollination is the stigma, as this is where the pollen is transferred to fertilize the plant. Once a flower has been fertilized, seeds will be produced in the ovary; and oftentimes the ovary will turn into fruit.

Knowing this, we can define pollination as the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma.

Each plant has grown and evolved in a way to attract a specific pollinator, and there are many different agents of pollination. Wind, animals, and insects are the main ones! 

Grasses are notable for being adapted for wind pollination. 

Image Source: The Lens and I

Many grass seed heads actually produce small flowers, and the wind blows pollen from the anthers to the stigma. 

But for many other flowering plants, animal and insect pollination is what they have evolved for. Many different types of animals and insects can be pollinators. A few examples are bats, birds, rodents, bees, butterflies, moths, and beetles. There are a few characteristics of a flower that can tell us what its chosen pollinator may be. The shape, size, scent, and bloom time are all indicators of its pollinator.

Bees are mentioned the most often when discussing pollination. But what flowers actually attract bees?

Bees see with a different light spectrum than we do, so certain colored flowers will be more attractive to them. Blue, purple, and yellow flowers are best for attracting bees. A "landing pad," "pollen guide," and sweet sent also attract bees. Petals of certain flowers form shapes that are ideal for landing, creating "landing pads." Petals can also form shapes or color patterns that point the pollinator to the pollen, these shapes and patterns are known as "pollen guides." And because bees rely on nectar from flowers for food, a sweet scent is also necessary for the flower to attract bees.

Image Source: MyButterflyLady

The image above is the Texas native wildflower Lemon Beebalm. It has all the characteristics ideal for attracting bees!

Here's a quick run-down of some flower characteristics to look for that show what pollinators they've evolved to attract:

Pollinator	Flower Characteristics
Bees	Landing pad, pollen guide, sweet scent, violet/yellow color
Hummingbirds	Tubular shape, lots of nectar, sweet scent, bright/red color
Butterflies	Landing pad, sweet scent, bright color
Bats	Nocturnal blooming, lots of nectar, sweet scent, pale color
Moths	Nocturnal blooming, tubular shape, sweet scent, pale color
Beetles	Bowl shaped, lots of pollen, musky scent, pale/dull color
Flies	Bowl shaped, foul scent, dull color
Wasps*	Landing pad, sweet scent, bright color

Plants have evolved to support specific pollinators, and having a variety of flowering plants in your garden will help bring in many different pollinators! 

*Many wasp species are generalists, meaning they don't seek out specific flowers for nectar.

Inviting Pollinators to Your Garden

If you grow fruits and vegetables, or simply want to support your native ecosystem, you may want to encourage pollinators to visit your garden!

As we just discussed, plants have evolved to support specific pollinators; therefore, it is important to have a variety of flowers in your garden if you are trying to attract a lot of pollinators. This will also increase biodiversity, which supports the overall health and stability of your garden. On top of biodiversity, it is also important to have host plants for caterpillars, and plant native plants that pollinators in your region will recognize.

Host plants are plants that caterpillars can consume and cocoon on. Supporting butterfly and moth larval stages is a great way to encourage these pollinators to return to your garden each year. Milkweed, butterfly weed, and parsley are a few plants that act as host plants to butterfly species.

Image Source: One Stop Garden Shop

The best way to invite pollinators to your garden is by planting native flowering plants. As stated in previous paragraphs, plants have evolved in very specific ways to attract specific pollinators. It is the same the other way around. Pollinators have evolved in conjunction with these plants, so they rely on specific plants to bloom at the right time and produce enough nectar for them. Some non-native flowering plants may not support pollinators in your region because they don't bloom at the right time or are simply inedible to native pollinators. 

Image Source: Texas Wildlife Science

Our store, DFW Organic Growing, is located in Tarrant County, which is in the Cross Timbers ecoregion. Doing research on what ecoregion your town is in can guide you on what plants to grow to properly support native pollinators. 

Below are some examples of what to plant to support pollinators in the Cross Timbers region!

Flowering Plant	Pollinator Supported
Texas Lantana	Swallowtail butterflies, hairstreak butterflies, monarch butterflies, queen butterflies, painted lady butterflies, gulf fritillary butterflies, skipper butterflies, sphinx moths, bumble bees, sweat bees, ruby-throated hummingbirds, black-chinned hummingbirds
Lemon Beebalm	Bumblebees, solitary bees, monarch butterflies, swallowtail butterflies, white peacock butterflies, sand wasps, black-chinned hummingbirds, ruby-throated hummingbirds
Firewheel Blanketflower	Bumblebees, mason bees, skipper butterflies, buckeye butterflies, southern dogface butterflies, sulphur butterflies, monarch butterflies, painted lady butterflies, painted schinia moths, yellow jackets, paper wasps
Scarlet Sage	Giant swallowtail butterflies, ruby-throated hummingbirds, black-chinned hummingbirds, monarch butterflies, skipper butterflies, bumblebees, mason bees
Cowpen Daisy	Gilded seedcropper moths, alluring schinia moths, southern emerald moths, gold moths, bordered patch butterflies, silvery checkerspot butterflies, solitary bees, parasitoid wasps

Fun fact: Honeybees are not native to North America and can displace native bee species in some areas.

For a more extensive guide to native plants in your area, I would recommend visiting the Native Plant Database from the Native Plant Society of Texas and utilizing the filters to find flowering plants in your region.

It is also worth remembering that not all native plants are made equally. Certain plants are considered "pioneer species," which means that they have evolved to quickly colonize barren areas. Cowpen daisy is an example of this. If it is planted in a barren area, it will quickly take over that area. If a natural look is what you're going for, you don't really need to worry about this; but particular planters may want to take this fact into consideration.

Supporting Flowering Plants

Sometimes your garden needs a boost, and the same thing came be said about flower beds! To help your flowering plants reach their full potential, high-phosphorus organic fertilizers and rich composts are recommended. 

Phosphorus supports the switch from vegetative growth to reproductive growth, ATP (cellular energy) formation, and DNA and RNA synthesis. Without adequate phosphorus, flowering plants are unable to flower properly. 

Compost is also important to support the growth of the entire plant, as it is filled with a wide range of readily available nutrients. If the plant is properly fed, it will send out more shoots. More shoots means more flower buds!

Like your garden, your flower beds need care and support to reach their full potential. Adding compost and high-phosphorus fertilizer can help your flowering plants grow bigger and bloom fully!

If you're from the DFW area, here are a few of our products that are designed to support flowering plants:

• Gaia Green Power Bloom Fertilizer
• MicroLife Acidifer Fertilizer
• MicroLife Multi-Purpose Fertilizer
• Down to Earth Rose & Flower Mix Fertilizer
• Organics Alive V-PK Fertilizer
• The Organic Recycler Compost

Conclusion

There is a lot more to pollination than many people have been taught. Through careful evolution, plants and pollinators have adapted to rely on one another. This symbiosis has led pollinators to look for specific traits in plants to signal that there's nectar for them. That's why planting flowering plants native to your region can encourage many more pollinators to visit your garden! Supporting pollinators by planting native flowering plants not only supports the surrounding ecosystem, but it also benefits your vegetable garden, so it's worth considering.

If you are planting flowering plants, our shop is here to help! We have a solid variety of products designed to encourage blooming and support the overall health of your plants.

Thanks for reading!

Written by Kaitlyn Watt