National pollinator week is June 22-28th, 2026. Pollinators are an important part of our food chain. They are responsible for much of the variety of foods that are available for consumption. Plants and pollinators often evolve over time jointly and form an exclusive relationship. This relationship is exclusive as in no other pollinator can take the place for fertilization, and no other plant can accommodate that pollinator.
Pollination occurs when an insect or animal inadvertently or purposefully picks up pollen and spreads it throughout the plant or other plants. Although plants can be propagated through a cloning process, fertilization provides differing chromosomes giving more diversity in a plant. The goal of fertilization is reproduction and requires some type of pollinator. Bats, bees, beetles, birds, butterflies, moths, flies and the wind are all pollinators and pollinate different plants.
Once pollination occurs, plants begin producing seeds to assure the plant’s ongoing existence. Dispersal of seeds happens in many different ways. Some plants grow wings or little parachutes that catch the wind and seeds are carried to distant places. Other fruits or seeds are eaten by birds and carried to a new location in bird droppings. Seeds can be dispersed by grabbing clothes or fur and traveling to a new destination under someone else’s power.
Flower shape, odor, color, pollen and nectar attract specific pollinators. Learning which plants attract certain pollinators gives you a chance to determine what you want in your yard. If you have a preference for the pollinator you prefer to feed choose the flowers that best suit them. Perennial flowers are the easiest flowers to assure blooms as they do not have to be replanted each year.
Bats like flowers that are bowl shaped and open at night. Bats prefer flowers that are white, green or purple. Bees prefer flowers that are white, yellow or blue and have shallow blooms with a landing platform. Butterflies like bright flowers, especially purple and red ones. They like flowers that have a narrow tube with a spur and a wide landing pad so they can land and linger over a nice meal. Moths, bees and hummingbirds prefer tubular flowers.
Humans depend on the relationship between plants and their pollinators for many foods consumed worldwide. Fruits and vegetables that require pollination include: berries such as blueberries, blackberries and raspberries; nuts such as almonds and macadamias; melons such as watermelons, honeydew and cantaloupe; onions, avocados, grains, apples, pears, squash, carrots, broccoli and many others. Without pollination we would not have the variety of fruits and vegetables that are available now. Having access to a variety of food increases the quantity and quality of nutrients consumed, contributing to good health.
Replace your lawn to support pollinators by planting flowering trees and flowers. Wild columbine, milkweeds, false blue indigo, purple coneflower, sunflowers, native lilies, bee balm, sage, bergamot, lupine, phlox, black-eyed Susan, violets, aster, sweet William and trumpet vine or honeysuckle and weeds such as Joe Pye, boneset, goldenrod or throroughwort are particularly satisfying to pollinators.