Re: question about non-native plants and pollinators

No harm in growing non-natives, esp. water-wise plants & those known to be
neonic-free. The concept we try to promote is to plant more natives. I
suggest you watch some of Doug Tallemy's videos of his talks on YouTube -
he's incredibly knowledgeable and eloquent on the topic of Natives vs
non-natives. His research shows - among other things - that natives support
a much bigger number of pollinator species than do non-natives. His
credentials should be listed too or are easily available online.


This isn't a link but what to search for on You Tube
Doug Tallamy's Plant Natives 2015 presentation.

On Sat, Jul 9, 2016 at 11:49 AM, Carolyn Ulrich <cultivated13@gmail.com>
wrote:

> I'm well aware of the importance of growing native plants in order to
> benefit pollinating birds and insects. But I also see in my garden that
> certain non-natives attract bees and other insects.  Nepeta, calamintha and
> Allium 'Spring Beauty' attract bees in droves, and the nepeta is
> particuarly valuable, it seems to me, because it gives the bees something
> to eat in May when Joe Pye weed, cultiver's root, echinacea, milkweeds,
> anise hyssop and ironweed are still weeks away from blooming.  I have
> Penstemon digitalis, which the bees like in May, but they also like nepeta
> at that time, and it seems to me that they need the nepeta.
>
> Should I not grow crocus? At the end of March, when the snow crocus open,
> I always see some bees hovering above them. If I didn't have the crocus,
> what would these bees be able to feed on?
>
> So is there any "harm" in growing these non-natives?  Does the pollen from
> these and other non-natives negatively affect the ecosystem in some way?
> I'd like to contact someone who can speak authoritatively on this topic and
> not polemically.
>
> Carolyn Ulrich
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Jane Shellenberger
Publisher, Colorado Gardener
www.coloradogardener.com
303 774-1180
303 774-8399 fx
cogardener@gmail.com
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