Its HOT! Bees and other pollinators need fresh water to drink too. Add a bee water station in your yard for bees and other animals to get a drink. Bird baths work fine too. Place a rock in the water station for the insects to land on when they visit.
MJ
Bee water station in Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat.
Honey bee visiting a birdbath.
Hoary vervain (Verbena stricta) is one of my favorite native wildflowers.
Hoary vervain, a native wildflower.
It is blooming in the habitat now. The plant has beautiful purple-blue flowers and blooms for at least 6 weeks. It gets 2 feet tall and prefers drier soil conditions. I always see bumblebees visiting the flowers, as well as butterflies and solitary bees.
MJ
In the pollinator habitat today I notice a Monarch caterpillar feeding on a swamp milkweed flower. Monarch butterflies lay their eggs only on milkweed plants. Swamp milkweed is blooming now and the pink flowers are very attractive. We also have butterfly, common and whorled milkweeds growing in the habitat. Consider adding milkweeds to your perennial flower beds.
Monarch caterpillar on swamp milkweed.
The federal government in February, pledged $3.2 million to help save the monarch butterfly. In recent years, the species has experienced a 90 percent decline in population, with the lowest recorded population occurring in 2013-2014.
About $2 million will restore more than 200,000 acres of habitat from California to the mid-west, including approximately 750 schoolyard habitats and pollinator gardens. The rest will be used to start a conservation fund, the first dedicated solely to monarchs, that will provide grants to farmers and other landowners to conserve habitat.
This is exciting news. These gardens will benefit all pollinators and help raise awareness of habitat protection.
MJ
The Buzz at Cherry Creek 