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Pollinator Garden

bee friendly

The Birds, the Bees, & All the Pollinators in Between

Pollinators are essential to a healthy ecosystem by helping carry pollen from one flower to another. For gardens to thrive, flowers need to be matched with the right pollinators to reproduce. A successful pollinator garden features a variety of flower shapes, sizes, colors, and bloom times to provide nectar throughout the year. Ensuring diverse plantings will attract an array of pollinators including native bees, flies, hummingbirds, butterflies, beetles, and other insects.

garden map

Seasonality

Supporting All Stages of Life

We often think of pollinators as animals, primarily insects, that visit flowers as adults, but during the early stages of life, many larvae (young) feed exclusively on the leaves of a particular plant. One notable example is monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), which require milkweed (Asclepias sp.) leaves as caterpillars.

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s Pollinator Section along the Porter Trail features plants whose leaves and blooms are present throughout the year, supporting an array of pollinators at all life stages.