by Paula M. Bodah
a colorful garden can make life a little easier for our struggling pollinators
UNLESS YOU LIVE under a rock, you’ve probably heard that butterfly populations, particularly the familiar orange and black monarch, have precipitously declined over the past few decades. Statistics for 2024 show that in the western half of the U.S., the monarch population declined by more than 30 percent from 2023.
But as lovely as they are, butterflies aren’t the only pollinator species struggling. Hummingbirds and bees also face challenges for survival. Loss of habitat through development, the introduction of invasive plant species, climate change and the use of pesticides make it difficult for these tiny but crucial creatures to survive. The good news is that we can help by making wise choices about what to plant in our gardens.
Jesse Darling, manager at Jericho Nursery in Albuquerque, recommends starting your garden plan with perennial shrubs and trees. “Pollinators like to forage in the same spot, so if you have a place they can rely on, they’ll be happy,” he says.
If you have the room, plant a golden rain tree—a low-maintenance, drought-resistant tree that can grow to 30 or 40 feet in height and diameter. Bees love the bright yellow flowers that cover the tree all summer long. Goldenrod, a herbaceous perennial that blooms in late summer and fall, also attracts bees—especially bumblebees.
Dana Ecelberger, coordinator for the nonprofit Bee City Los Alamos, also recommends planting cactus to attract the cactus bee, native to the Southwest, and globemallow to entice a handful of other varieties of bees.
Butterflies adore spirea, a compact, drought-tolerant shrub that sports bright blossoms from mid-spring through summer. If you really want to attract butterflies, plant milkweed. It’s the only plant monarch butterflies lay their eggs on, and the only food monarch caterpillars eat. To lure swallowtails, plant fennel and dill plants. And be sure to add a variety of colorful flowers, whether perennials like penstemon, salvia or black-eyed Susan or annuals such as pansies, zinnias, cosmos or marigolds. Butterflies and hummingbirds alike are attracted to color.
Add a honeysuckle or trumpet vine to your landscaping plan to bring more hummingbirds to your property. The vivid yellow, orange or red flowers attract the little birds, whose long beaks can probe deep inside the trumpetshaped bloom to reach the nectar.
A water feature—a simple bird bath that you keep filled with fresh water, a fountain or a pond—is also helpful to birds and butterflies. Another bright idea: Consider buying and releasing a batch of ladybugs in your garden, Darling suggests. “They don’t compete with the pollinators, but they eat the insects that prey on your plants.”
Avoid spraying chemicals of any kind all season long, and come fall, don’t be in a rush to clean up the garden. Ecelberger counsels letting seedheads and leaves stay on the ground over winter to provide shelter for pollinators. “Don’t rake them up until temperatures have been consistently above 50 degrees for a week or more,” she advises.
Whatever you plant, make it colorful from spring through fall. Then sit back and watch the birds, bees and butterflies flock to your yard.
