Category Archives: Pollinator Corridor

“Oh, it’s so overgrown!” said a woman coming back to her car after running on the MRG. She was commenting on one of the pollinator gardens. I wish I had said “Think meadow.”

Were it not for the dandelions, Creeping Charlie, clover, self-seeded violets, wild strawberry flowers, and a few wild mustard plants, there would be very little nectar and pollen for bees in the MRG pollinator gardens this time of year. The pollinator gardens are more like wild meadows than formal gardens. Many pollinators are attracted to goldenrod, milkweed, dandelions, wild mustard; these flowers would likely be weeded out of a formal garden. In order to provide a variety of flowers from Spring through late Fall, it helps to scrap the idea of an orderly garden and seems better to work with the natural world. Yes, as the season progresses, there will be some showy flowers too, but it is satisfying to see that the creeping charlie was there for this tri-colored bumblebee. Think meadow!

Work on the tunnel this Spring destroyed the MRG pollinator garden on the Goss Logan hillside. Only the hardiest of perennials survived. Red bee balm was one of the survivors . . .  and it attracted this tiny hummingbird moth. These Dr. Seuss-like creatures have hummingbird energy, hovering and darting about. The proboscis and antennae are like those of butterflies. The furriness and striping are like bumble bees. The tail is like that of a lobster.

The caterpillar stage of the hummingbird moth looks much like a tomato hornworm. Hard to believe that this creature that looks so much like a hummingbird could emerge from such a caterpillar!

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Hummingbird Moth Caterpillar Stage

Rain refreshed the various pollinator gardens along the MRG today – there were pollinators aplenty!

Silver Spotted Skipper on Echinacea

Tiny bees on Black-eyed Susan

Bee on Bee Balm

Silver Spotted Skipper on Liatris

Sweat bee on Echinacea