Welcome back, pollinator pals! Beth here,
in the Pollinator Exhibit at Como Park Zoo
and Conservatory. And, thanks to the Legacy
Amendment, I'm bringing to you one last episode
about our pollinators and what you can do
to help. We've been talking throughout this
season about the different pollination stories
and even about local pollinators who need
our assistance, today, and the different ways
we can take action. But it's time for us to
bring this all together into one last reminder
that we can make a difference. Because every
action we're taking is going to help them
out, and considering that pollinators are
responsible for one in every three bites of
food that we're taking it's really important
for us to help them out. So, let's start by
taking a look at some of the things you can
do. First off, you can see here in our pollinator
garden some enormous, lush blooms - it's almost
like a tropical paradise, but these are flowers
that you can grow in your own backyard! I
kind of want to crawl into them, they remind
me a little bit of like, the other side might
have Narnia, looks very exciting. It might
look big, and feral, and wild, but it's also
beautiful, and festive, and bright, and a
diverse array of plants for our pollinators
to enjoy. In your backyard, consider plantings
that go all the way through the gardening
season - from early spring, when pollinators
need their snacks the most all the way through
the fall season. Just because summer's coming
to an end, and we've gotten our first waft
of cool air and pumpkin spice doesn't mean
that it's over - we can still plant lots of
beautiful blooms. And if you don't have time
to garden at this time of year, things are
a little chaotic, consider some potted plants
that you could add to your backyard that are
still blooming and could give pollinators
that extra last-season rush they need to prepare
for the winter season. You could also consider
how you manage your brush and your lawn throughout
the year, and as you get into the fall season.
There are lots of things you can do, and I'm
really excited about most of these gardening
tips, because, while I've been trying to learn
a lot about great gardening skills from our
amazing horticulturists, I've also been having
to admit that I'm still kind of gardening
in a "Hunger Games" style where I release
plants out into the garden, wish them luck,
and I see who made it. That's unfortunately
my gardening skill set. The good news is,
is even these pollinator skills are actually
going to be working for my gardening skills,
which is really exciting! Instead of mowing
your lawn all the time, really regularly,
perhaps consider not mowing it as often, letting
that grass get longer or, better yet, plant
one of those Bee Lawns. It requires minimal
maintenance, it needs less water, less cutting,
less time - it's also really beautiful and
great for pollinators. Sounds like a win-win
in my book! And there's lots of great grant
opportunities to help you connect your lawn
to pollinators, which is pretty cool! You
could also consider how you remove that brush
at the end of the season. As you're raking
or removing sticks from your yard, perhaps
consider not raking as much, or leaving a
patch where wild stuff can continue. Leave
a few snags, some dead wood, leave some piles
of leaves somewhere on the ground. Lots of
our pollinators from bees to moths will use
that as an overwintering space for themselves
or for their pupa so that they can survive
the cold winter. I like a nice, snug, warm
blanket in the winter... and it sounds like
bees agree! You can also help - [laughs] we
have some cool bugs flying by, which is pretty
great - you can also help by how you prune.
So if you're going to be pruning in the fall
season, here, instead of removing all of the
dead plants that might be in your yard (these
are all beautiful and alive, so I don't want
to cut too much just yet) but as these start
to die off, it could look a little unsightly
to some people - a little wild. I like to
think of it as, like, "early Halloween decoration"
a little spooky, a little festive. But instead
of cutting it all the way to the ground, perhaps
consider just trimming along the tops - leaving
the stems for some of our stem-resting bees
to have a safe place to live during the winter
time. It's really important. If we remove
all that brush, we remove their homes. And
when we remove the homes for pollinators,
we remove the pollinators, and we need those
guys! Both for our flowers, our food, and
for our little flying friends, which is pretty
cool. So there's lots of ways we can help
- we can basically garden by being a little
lazier, which, honestly, sounds like a win-win,
again, in my book! You can plant plants that
are going to grow throughout the season, let
them stay until the next spring, and, if possible,
continue this planting with native plants
and cool additions. Those will help promote
your native ecosystems and, if you plant a
diverse enough array, you'll get a diverse
array of pollinators. And, by having that
diversity, we're more resilient to disease,
to drought, to all sorts of different threats
that our plants in our community might be
facing! So, we can really make a difference
in our own backyards every single day. We
can also look in to some of our other future
decisions that we can make. If you happen
to have made a bee house for bees, and you're
preparing to winterize it for the season,
remember to bring it inside and clean it out.
Bees are very vulnerable to fungus, bacteria,
and parasites and it's really important for
us to get those nice and thoroughly cleaned.
Just like I like to live in a clean home,
even though it can sometimes be hard to remember
to pick up everything, it's really, really
important to help out these little guys and
keep it clean for the next generation of bees
moving in. We don't want them to get sick,
because they wouldn't be around! We also can
help out by, in the future, reducing our use
of pesticides or certain fertilizers to help
keep our insect friends safe and healthy,
and to keep our ecosystem safe and healthy!
What's more, is we can take that step even
further in how we choose to make purchases,
voting with our dollar to help protect insects
and pollinators all over the world. There's
a lot of impact that we can make, and you
can start in your own garden, but it doesn't
have to stop there! Now if you're wanting
to learn more about pollinators, we're going
to have some great resources on our website
that you can find out how you can help pollinators
in your own backyard and beyond. And I encourage
you to check it out! You can also swing by
and make a reservation, in advance, to visit
the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory to check
out our pollinators and more! We'd love to
see you here, and we'd love to see, even more,
you connect to pollinator in your own neighborhood.
Thanks so much for listening, and stay tuned
for other great episodes with Como!
