National Pollinator Week - Look at all the pretty pollinators...

Don't forget that this week (June 17th - 23rd) is National Pollinator Week here in the United States.  I have written several previous times about installing Native Pollinator Gardens (here, here, and here).  Many people plant gardens full of beautiful flowers and then never see an abundance of bees, butterflies, moths, and other pollinators.  That is because while many of the flowers sold at garden centers and big box stores can be excellent nectar sources, pollinator need more than just nectar to survive.  The component that most people have missing in their gardens is larval host plants - if you want a large variety of insects in your garden, you have to provide something for them to eat all stages of their life cycle.  Most cultivated varieties of plants do not provide food to larva.  Your butterfly bush is useless to insects except when it is blooming.  PLANT NATIVE PLANTS!  I cannot emphasize that enough.  PLANT. NATIVE. PLANTS. 

Now let's look at a few of the pollinators that you might attract.