The first official day of fall may not be until Sept. 22, but already, the smell of pumpkin spice fills the air. Outdoors, it is a time of harvest and while heat-weary gardeners might be ready to “put the garden to bed,” pollinator experts say now is the time to consider the birds and the bees.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants – and about 35 % of the world’s food crops – depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. The department estimates that one of every three bites of food consumed exists because of insects such as bees, butterflies and moths; birds; and mammals such as bats.
Animal pollination occurs when a pollinator brushes up against a flower’s reproductive parts while looking for food and then does the same to another, unknowingly depositing pollen from flower to flower. The plant then uses the pollen to create a seed or a fruit. Many of the foods consumed regularly require this form of pollination to grow.
That dependence makes pollinators an essential part of farms and gardens alike.
As the growing season winds down, however, helping those pollinators may require less work rather than more. The Pollinator Partnership recommends leaving much of the garden undisturbed until spring.
The Pollinator Partnership also recommends delaying most garden cleanup until early spring to provide overwintering habitat for pollinators. Many types of bees will hibernate in the hollow stems of flowering perennials. Fallen leaves and sticks provide winter homes for swallowtail butterfly chrysalis, lady beetles and millipedes. The dried seed heads of sunflowers, coneflowers and other perennials provide winter food for birds.
The Kentucky Extension Master Gardener manual notes an exception: Plant material that has hosted pathogens, such as powdery mildew, should be removed and discarded rather than composted because disease-causing organisms can persist.
While spring often gets the attention when gardeners begin thinking about bulbs, seeds and the first signs of green, the Kentucky Extension Master Gardener manual recommends getting an earlier start by planting in the fall, particularly for plants that will provide food for pollinators the following spring.
Bradley Simmons has been involved in the Kentucky Extension Master Gardener Program in Calloway County since 2019.
“The reason I enjoy planting fall bulbs is the anticipation all winter long of the burst of color that will come in the late winter and early spring,” explained Simmons, who recently presented a program on planting fall bulbs at a Marshall County Master Gardeners meeting.
One variety Simmons enjoys planting in the fall is the dwarf iris, a native perennial that prefers full to partial shade. Pollinators, such as bees, are drawn to the sweet fragrance of the flower which offers an early food source.
“I especially enjoy the early blooming varieties like snowdrops, dwarf iris and crocuses,” Simmons said. “These really stand out because nothing else is blooming or even green yet.”
Fall is the recommended time to plant many varieties of perennials, according to the Kentucky Native Plant Society. Those include native perennials such as coneflower, cardinal flower and milkweed, the host plant for monarch caterpillars. Other plants native to the Jackson Purchase ecological region of Kentucky include spicebush, which serves as a host plant for the spicebush swallowtail butterfly, and eastern redbud, a tree that is easily established in fall and offers vibrant color in spring.
Native plants do not require as much work as non-native plants because, once they are established, they typically require less fertilizer and pesticides, according to the Kentucky Native Plant Project. Planting native plants supports various insects in the pollinator food web that only eat specific native plants. Non-native plants are often invasive and can take over a specific plant's habitat thus interrupting the entire ecosystem.
The USDA website offers webinars, and other informational guides for those wanting to know more about pollinators. The Pollinator Partnership, in connection with the U.S. Forest Service, created Find Your Roots, an online tool designed to help people find native plants specific to their area. Resources are also available on the Kentucky Native Plant Society and Kentucky Native Plant Project websites.
The Master Gardeners of Calloway County will present a program on attracting pollinators at this month’s Thursday Night Talks at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17.
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