What actions can you take?

• Go native! Native plants are plants that occur naturally (without direct or indirect human intervention) in the location where they evolved and generally are the most attractive to pollinators.

• Choose a variety of plants. Having plants that bloom in spring, summer, and fall will ensure food is always available for pollinators. Plant several of each variety (at least 3, or more if you can). Insects are attracted to drifts of color and it looks great in your garden!

• Avoid cultivars. Many cultivars (cultivated varieties) have been altered to have a different color or form to attract a buyer but that can result in the plant being less attractive to insects and/or providing less pollen and nectar.

• Leave the leaves and plant stalks in the fall. Do garden clean up in the spring. Insects will overwinter in leaf litter and plant stalks and birds will pick through the leaves for insects.

• Start removing non-native plants (i.e. plants that originally came from other parts of the world) to make room for more natives! Non-natives support fewer insects and some will re-seed into woods or other unmanaged areas and crowd out native plants.

• Leave some bare ground around your plants. Many native bees are ground dwelling – they need bare ground to nest.

• Reduce or eliminate use of pesticides and herbicides