Local volunteers provide advice for attracting hummingbirds, bees and butterflies to your home habitat
by Ellen Zagory, director of public horticulture
Which plants are perfect for attracting hummingbirds, bees and butterflies to your home’s habitat? Find out Sunday, September 24 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. from a team of UC-Davis-Arboretum-trained volunteers excited to share their knowledge with the public.
“As farms, subdivisions and shopping malls expand, the land we manage in our urban and suburban gardens plays a critical role providing food and shelter for animals like birds and insects,” explains Ellen Zagory, director of public horticulture, pollinator gardening expert and educator for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.
… the land we manage in our urban and suburban gardens plays a critical role providing food and shelter for animals like birds and insects.
“The plants we choose for our yards and put on our patios have an important function in improving the quality of our environment, but most of us don’t know which plants to use to create a diverse habitat.”
To help close this gap, a team of volunteers recently completed a pollinator training about these plants and the local fauna they attract – particularly native bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. This new team of pollinator gardeners would like to invite you to join them to hear about all they have learned.
“It has been exciting and rewarding to see hummingbirds feed in my garden,” says Judy Hecomavich, master gardener and pollinator gardening volunteer. “It was beyond exhilarating to see a nest built, eggs laid and incubated, and fledglings leave the nest all because I have plants and a few other things in my garden that attract hummingbirds.”
“I love my garden because it is full of butterflies like the bright orange gulf fritillaries, the yellow and black tiger swallowtails and prolific mournful dusky wings,” says Janet Thatcher, master gardener and pollinator gardening volunteer. “If you plant the right combination of nectar plants and larval food plants you create a window into this magical world right at home.”
“We all need to appreciate and nurture our native bees, they are extremely important pollinators in home gardens and for California’s commercial crops,” explains Ann Daniel, master gardener and pollinator gardening volunteer. “I look forward to sharing what I have learned and helping others be kind to native bees.”
In partnership with the UC Master Gardeners of Yolo County, the UC Davis Arboretum will be hosting a free pollinator gardening event Sunday, September 24, 2017 at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Come and visit information tables for details on local bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, tour recently planted pollinator supporting gardens, learn about the best plants to use, and preview those that will be for sale at the Arboretum’s upcoming fall plant sales. The City of Davis and the UC Master Gardeners of Yolo County will also be available to answer your questions about water saving landscapes, give gardening advice, and tell you about upcoming educational opportunities.
“Attend and see how plants work to support and improve our local ecosystem,” says Zagory. “You will leave with information that will help you create your very own habitat, at home.”