#yay bees

I want to plant a pollinator garden. The best pollinator gardens are native plants. I've been kicking this around for a while and always stalled on three problems:

1. We spray for bugs because palmetto bugs and Carolina wolf spiders are a fucking problem - that would poison our pollinators

2. I'm disabled and digging is hard

3. I always forget about planting until the end of March-beginning of April, which is too late to start seeds

I actually talked to a horticulturalist and none of these things matter!

1. The area I want to plant in is far enough from where the spraying happens that it won't impact the pollinators. The specific pesticides used in our pest service are also typically only a major issue if sprayed during pollinator foraging. (I also got some great advice for how to transition away from pesticides, but it's probably not going to be 100% with those damn hognas.)

2. I was looking at planting in clay. I don't have clay. I have sand. For hearty native plants, I don't have to dig at all! I can rake an inch into the sand, scatter seed, cover with soil + compost (thank you to my worms), and top with a scattering of pine straw (thank you to my pine trees). No digging. My shoulders will be okay.

3. Hearty native plants don't need to be started indoors, and in fact that's worse for some of them. Milkweed in particular doesn't like to be transplanted, and swamp milkweed (the most local native) hates it the most!

In the part of SC I live in, it's not unusual to have flowers from February-November. I've picked a variety of late spring through late fall (already have early spring) blooms so pollinators of all varieties will have access to food for their entire foraging season.

I'm so happy. This is going to be beautiful and even more so because it's going to be meaningful. Don't get me wrong, I love monarchs and honeybees and they'll also benefit, but South Carolina's native bees and butterflies also need love. The location of the pollinator garden is also double duty because it's next to the area where our native terrestrial bees typically live in my yard. I'm basically adding a buffet in their house.

I want to plant a pollinator garden. The best pollinator gardens are native plants. I've been kicking this around for a while and always stalled on three problems:

1. We spray for bugs because palmetto bugs and Carolina wolf spiders are a fucking problem - that would poison our pollinators

2. I'm disabled and digging is hard

3. I always forget about planting until the end of March-beginning of April, which is too late to start seeds

I actually talked to a horticulturalist and none of these things matter!

1. The area I want to plant in is far enough from where the spraying happens that it won't impact the pollinators. The specific pesticides used in our pest service are also typically only a major issue if sprayed during pollinator foraging. (I also got some great advice for how to transition away from pesticides, but it's probably not going to be 100% with those damn hognas.)

2. I was looking at planting in clay. I don't have clay. I have sand. For hearty native plants, I don't have to dig at all! I can rake an inch into the sand, scatter seed, cover with soil + compost (thank you to my worms), and top with a scattering of pine straw (thank you to my pine trees). No digging. My shoulders will be okay.

3. Hearty native plants don't need to be started indoors, and in fact that's worse for some of them. Milkweed in particular doesn't like to be transplanted, and swamp milkweed (the most local native) hates it the most!

In the part of SC I live in, it's not unusual to have flowers from February-November. I've picked a variety of late spring through late fall (already have early spring) blooms so pollinators of all varieties will have access to food for their entire foraging season.

I'm so happy. This is going to be beautiful and even more so because it's going to be meaningful. Don't get me wrong, I love monarchs and honeybees and they'll also benefit, but South Carolina's native bees and butterflies also need love. The location of the pollinator garden is also double duty because it's next to the area where our native terrestrial bees typically live in my yard. I'm basically adding a buffet in their house.