Blandy Experimental Farm
Blandy Experimental Farm
Bee on lavender flowers

Pollination Garden

Watch bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators visit their favorite flowers. Find out why pollination matters to our health and environment. Discover plants that you can add to your garden to attract these amazing creatures. The Pollination Garden is located to the east of the Quarters Building. 

Continue below to learn more about pollinators and how you can help them.

The Pollinators

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A bumblebee visits a pinkish purple flower.   A ruby-throated hummingbird visits a bright orange flower. 

A tiger swallowtail butterfly nectars on a tubular red flower with a yellow center.    A clearwing moth visits bright pink flowers.

A hover fly that mimics a bee visits a light purple flower.   A small red and black beetle visits a large, creamy white flower.

Pollinators are Important

Without pollinators we would not have apples, tomatoes, almonds, coffee, and chocolate. These are just some foods and beverages that rely on pollinators. Some estimate that 1 in 3 bites of food we eat are the result of animal assisted pollination. If these pollinators cease to exist our food supply and that of other animals would collapse. Pollinators are necessary for human survival.

A ripe green apple, a cup of coffee, a ripe red tomato, and a bunch of almonds.

What You Can Do

Habitat loss, invasive plants and animals, climate change, the misuse and overuse of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as diseases and parasites all threaten the survival of pollinators. There are several steps you can take to help pollinators survive. 

  • Grow native flowering plants that provide food, nesting sites, and shelter for pollinators.
  • Avoid using pesticides. Most pesticides are not selective and harm beneficial insects as well.
  • Do not plant invasive plants and remove them from your property.
  • Support conservation efforts and encourage others to do the same.  

Tips for Gardening for Pollinators

  • Use a variety of native plants that bloom at different times ensuring nectar and pollen are available from early spring to late fall.
  • Grow host and nectar plants that support all stages of pollinator life cycles.
  • Cluster plants in groups of three or more making it easier for pollinators to locate and feed on them.
  • Cut back stems in spring leaving stubble of 8 to 24 inches to provide winter nesting cavities for native bees and wasps.
  • Leave fallen leaves in the garden providing habitat for overwintering insects and invertebrates.
  • Leave bare ground to provide habitat for many of the native bees that nest in the ground.

Plants for Pollinators

These are just a few Virginia native pollinator favorites that grow well in our area in full to part sun in average garden soils.

Click on photos to more easily read text.

Small, bright yellow flowers in clusters.   A plant with bright yellow, daisy shaped flowers.   

Tubular lavender flowers with dark purple lines on the bottom petals.   Pink flowers being visited by a yellow and black bumblebee.

A red flower with tubular petals.   A grayish plant with clusters of small white flowers.

Red flowers being visited by a ruby-throated hummingbird.   An orange and black butterfly visits frilly pinkish purple flowers.

Frilly purple flowers are visited by a white and black zebra swallowtail butterfly.    Buttery yellow flowers being visited by a black and yellow bumblebee. 

Flowers with purple petals arranged around a yellow center visited by a hover fly mimicking a bee.   A hummingbird visiting tubular shaped coral colored flowers.

Hungry Caterpillars

Female butterflies and moths lay their eggs on the leaves of host plants, a plant whose leaves caterpillars (larvae) consume to grow. Trees, shrubs, and perennials can handle heavy feeding by caterpillars that will turn into adult butterflies and moths. Chewed and nibbled leaves are a sign of a healthy and sustaining landscape providing habitat for butterfly and moth caterpillars.

Two common caterpillars found in native gardens are in the photo below. On the left, a spicebush swallowtail caterpillar found on spicebush. On the right, a black swallowtail caterpillar found on golden Alexanders, parsley, and dill.

A drab green caterpillar in a leaf and a bright green, yellow, and black caterpillar on a stem.