One of the best things about summer is the flowers – especially flowers that draw in a variety of pollinators. Fuzzy-bottomed bees, gorgeous wasps, showy butterflies, less-showy-but-still-sublime moths – I don’t even mind the flies drawn to certain blooms, particularly the ones that mimic bees. They make it a fun game of “is this a bee or not?” If you spy often enough, you’ll also see the busy machinations of ants, the shiny beetles in a rainbow of colors, and the beautiful webwork of spiders. It’s an ecosystem that ends up supporting more than just the garden – it spreads out into the megafauna of the surrounding area: birds, foxes, bobcats, and more.

Wondering where you can buy native plants?

Here are two Connecticut nurseries:

Earth Tones Native Nursery, Woodbury, CT http://www.earthtonesnatives.com/

Native: A Native Plant Nursery, Fairfield, CThttps://www.anativeplantnursery.com/

Live in New York? Check out these nurseries:

Catskill Native Nursery, Kerhonksen, NY https://www.catskillnativenursery.com/

Long Island Natives, Eastport, NY https://longislandnatives.com/

Want to be part of the Pollinator Pathway? Check out this website: https://www.pollinator-pathway.org/

I’m sharing some of my favorite blooms and arthropods here: