Posts Tagged: Pollinator

Featured plant – Rough Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa)

Author: Lisa Trapp

There is an interesting time in the gardens when summer is ending but fall hasn’t quite arrived. It is brief, but very special. The late afternoons still provide intense sun and waves of heat, but the early mornings have a chill that whispers of the coming fall. Many flowers are giving way to seeds and husks, but the gardens are still very much alive. It is easy to miss the changes that are happening.

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Featured Pollinator: Long-Horned Bees

Author: Lisa Trapp

A few months ago we highlighted some interesting characteristics about a well known and highly effective pollinator, the bumble bee (Bombus spp.). Bumble bees are only one of many native bees we might spot in our, or a neighborhood, garden. Bees can be very hard to identify by sight alone, for a number of reasons — perhaps they are too small to see differentiations, or maybe they mimic other species,

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Butterfly or Moth? Understanding Sprightly Skippers

Author: Lisa Trapp

For many of us, the first insect that caught our attention and was easily identifiable was the butterfly. They’re commonly spotted as they float from flower to flower, or meander through the air down a forest path or nature trail. Night owls might be more fascinated with their evening counterparts, moths. There are at least 125,000 species of Lepidoptera (the order of insects that includes butterflies and moths) worldwide and 12,000 species just in North America.

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Getting to Know the Humble Bumble – (Bombus spp.)

Author: Lisa Trapp

Perhaps one of the most iconic and identifiable of all the native bees, bumble bees (Bombus spp.) are not only easy to recognize and universally beloved, they are also incredibly valuable pollinators. Approximately 263 different bumble bee species can be found world wide with roughly 28 different species found in the eastern half of North America. Their larger body mass can make them easy to spot,

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