Pollinating Night and Day

While all pollinators are important and vital to our lives, some are more striking than others such as butterflies and moths   Butterflies are busy pollinating by day and the moths cover the night.  Not many things in life get 24/7 coverage but pollination does!

The success of over 75% of the worlds flowering plants and over 150 food crops in the U.S. depend on pollinators. That tells us about pollinators in general but what do butterflies and moths provide us?

Many of the sweet fragrances we enjoy in lotions, soaps and perfumes come from plants that are pollinated by butterflies. Gardenia, Lilac, and Yucca to name a few.  There are also some edible items associated with these flowers.  For example, bee balm makes a nice tea or jelly, marigolds can also be used for tea. Some of these flowers and plants have edible parts such as some marigolds and day lilies.    There are some medicinal uses too! Marigolds is believed to have antiseptic properties and several plants like Floss Flower and Marigold are mosquito repellents.

If you would like to attract butterflies and moths to your pollinator garden, plant some of the host plants that they like. Vines like pipevine and passion flower are host plants for Pipevine Swallowtails and Gulf Fritillary butterflies.  Herbs like dill, parsley and fennel will attract Black Swallowtail butterflies.  Even trees are host plants such as White Birch, Walnut, Hickory and Sweetgum are host plants for the amazing and beautiful Luna Moth.

What else can you do to attract them? Plant a variety of colors and shapes of flowers and provide a shallow water source.  You can alsolso use natural, pollinator safe pesticides.

Another thing you can do to help promote pollinators is to become a Houston Zoo Pollinator Pal in the Swap Shop. Bring in photos or reports about your pollinator gardens and what pollinators you see there.  You will be able to earn points to trade for cool items in the shop.

Don’t know about the Swap Shop? Click here for more information.