You may have heard that honeybee populations are having trouble.  But did you know that honeybees are not native to North America?  Or that they're considered livestock? How about the fact that our native pollinators, like bumblebees, are actually better pollinators for fruit production than honeybees?  

    We rely upon dozens, if not hundreds, of species of pollinators for more than 30% of our food crops.  Even our backyard vegetable gardens require pollinators. One problem is our abundant use of pesticides.  Another major underlying factor is the loss of habitat for animals like our pollinators.  

The buckeye butterfly above is sipping nectar from the flowers of mountain mint, Pycanthemum incanum.  This plant is a favorite for many kinds of pollinators!

One sign that a plant is not usable by animals or part of the food chain is a lack of holes in leaves.  Seeing holes in leaves is a good thing!  That means there are plenty of bugs providing a source of food for the higher levels of the food chain, like birds and frogs.

         Some of the plants commonly used in landscaping do provide nectar for butterflies.  But most juvenile butterflies (caterpillars) can only eat native plants.  So, the non-native plants, even if they do provide nectar, are not helping butterfly populations grow since they do not provide food for the babies.

You can find frequent postings  on Facebook. 

•  Numbers of songbirds in North American have declined 70% in the past 50 years.

•  More than 95% of songbirds in North America need bugs, and caterpillars in particular, to feed their young.  

•  The abundance of beneficial bugs (such as pollinators) has declined significantly in recent years.

•  A major factor in the decline of birds and bees is loss of suitable habitat.

     A good deal of our landscaping is typically dominated by plants that are not native to this part of the world.  Many of our native animals cannot eat non-native plants — they simply can't digest them.  So, by using non-native plants in the landscaping, we are reducing the amount of food available for the food web.  Most of our plant-eating animals are bugs which are then eaten by other bugs or by birds and salamanders, frogs, lizards, and even bats.  If there are no native plants, then we cannot expect these other animals to be there either.