The Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat is full of bees and butterflies this month. We are seeing many native plants blooming in July: Rosinweed, Illinois bundleflower, swamp milkweed, wild bergamot, purple coneflower, hoary vervain, and chicory. It is wonderful to have a diverse selection of plants in our pollinator habitat.
MJ Frogge
We are seeing so many great native plants blooming in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat in June. Bee balm, purple poppy mallow, butterfly milkweed, common milkweed, prairie fleabane and common yarrow. It is important to have a diverse selection of plants for a pollinator habitat.
MJ Frogge
There are many ways you can help pollinators:
1. Plant Native Plants. Native flora provides native pollinators with food in the form of pollen and nectar. Select plants that have a long bloom time. Also grow a wide selection of plants so you have plants blooming April through October.
2. Let your yard get a little messy. Leave unhazardous snags for nesting places and stack down tree limbs to create a brush pile, which is a great source of cover for pollinators.
3. Create or protect water sources. Bees need water to drink. Create a water feature with rocks for insects to land. Be sure to keep birdbaths clean and change the water three times per week when mosquitoes are breeding.
4. Limit or eliminate pesticide use. By using fewer or no chemicals in the landscape you will help keep pollinator populations healthy.
5. Identify non-native invasive plants. Work to remove them from your yard. Do not bring any new invasive plants into your habitat. Invasive plants do not provide as much quality food or habitat as native plants do and can threaten healthy ecosystems.
MJ Frogge
Happy Pollinator Week! Today in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat the leaf cutter bees are very active. I can see where they have visited a seedling ash tree. Each disc of leaf that is clipped will become part of a cell that houses an individual leaf cutter bee egg. One of my favorite things to do is to check the bee house each week to see how may drilled blocks have been filled.
This NebGuide will help you make one for your habitat:
http://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/g2256.pdf
MJ Frogge
Earlier this month Soni replaced blocks on the top shelf of the solitary bee house in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat. We are eagerly awaiting the leafcutter bees who nest in these blocks. Here is a great fact sheet about leafcutter bees put together by Dr. Jonathan Larson at Nebraska Extension at Douglas/Sarpy counties: https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/Getting%20to%20Know%20Leafcutter%20Bees.pdf
MJ Frogge
Milkweed is up! We have common, butterfly and swamp milkweed growing in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat. I am anxious to see my first Monarch in the habitat. I know many pollinator watchers have had their first sighting already.
MJ Frogge
Near the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat wild plum and willow trees are blooming. These plants are important early blooming flowers for pollinators. Wild violets and dandelions are also blooming. Yesterday we taught youth about habitats at an outdoor education event at a nearby state park. It was great to show the students the early blooming flowers we saw, white trout lily and Dutchman’s breeches. Hope you can get outside this weekend and see what is blooming.
MJ Frogge
Yesterday, March 20, was the Spring Equinox. Spring is here and we are so grateful. Nebraska has endured record snow fall and flooding, so we are happy to have sunny spring weather.
Now is a good time to think about what plants you could add to your pollinator habitat. The Nebraska Pollinator Habitat Certification program has an excellent list of spring, summer and fall blooming plants that are native to Nebraska. Look over the impressive plant list and also consider certifying your pollinator habitat. Learn more at this link: https://entomology.unl.edu/pollinator-habitat-certification
MJ Frogge
The Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat has experienced a very snowy winter. With last night’s snow, Lincoln Nebraska has received over 40 inches of snow this winter season. There is another snow storm predicted for this weekend. I know we are all looking forward to spring.
MJ Frogge
Happy New Year!
This year I want to keep a journal of the insects, animals and blooming plants I see in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat. There are many ways to keep a nature or field journal. It can be easy as a note book and pencil. You may decide to sketch or use watercolors to paint what you see. Try to make an entry at least once a week and have a much detail as possible. Make a list of animals or insects in your habitat, what plants are coming up or blooming, what the weather is like or when you see the first queen bumble bee. Keep track of the first tree frog call or cicada. Plan to spend some time in your habitat just observing. When the weather is a little warmer, sit outside and just watch. It is amazing what you see.
Keep your journal near the door or by your garden shoes, so you remember to grab it as you go out the door. Take pictures and use them to identify what insects and plants you see. I keep a journal each year for my home gardens and pollinator habitat. I like to look back at past years to see when the snowdrops bloomed or saw the first monarch for the year. This is a fun project for kids too. It is a great way to get them outside and see nature around them.
MJ Frogge
