Creating Native Pollinator Gardens

Time to feed all the crawls, flies, flutters, walks, and wiggles.

I was raised barefoot in a vast wilderness filled with constant risk and adventure. My smell guide Rusty, our family’s Irish Setter, spent long days alongside me equally fascinated by the cast of characters we met. If we sat quietly and held still long enough, endless stories would unfold in front of us, with creatures that had superpowers like shapeshifting, color changing, web spinning, flying, long jumping, dive bombing, helicoptering, and even the ability to slime things. 

Others, well, they simply called it my backyard, even claiming that all the little flowers which fascinated us were weeds. But these, I would later discover, were essential pollinating plants, an intricate part of our food chain that hosts Florida’s three main pollinators: insects, birds, and bats. Many have disappeared from our gardens. “Coral Gables may look green, but it is a food desert for native species,” says Linda Lawrence Waldron, local biodiversity expert, Coral Gables Garden Club member since 1993, and garden columnist. “Exotic plants do not attract pollinators. Insects can only lay their eggs on plants they evolved with in the local environment.” 

This helped inspire the March 2022 article “The Butterfly Effect” where I described my experiences with monarchs and milk- weed in a raised garden bed. Milkweed is the only host plant for this iconic butterfly species. It’s where they lay eggs and as caterpillars feed exclusively on its leaves – which hold a protective chemistry of toxic cardiac glycosides that make monarch caterpillars and butter- flies poisonous to predators. 

Now, I sought to create some biodiversity in my yard itself. I had listened to Waldron give a lecture at UM, when she suggested, “A good starter set of pollinator plants includes porter weed, firebush, lantana, salvia, coontie, milkweed, and passion vine. It’s good work for the planet and you don’t need a giant space.” That space constraint proved a blessing for my yard, because even small corners could be sanctuaries. “They [natives] require much less watering, fertilizer, and pesticides,” said Waldron. “In fact, they can prevent water run-off and improve air quality. They pull and store excess carbon while decreasing pollution as they eliminate the need for mowers and other equipment.” 

Sold. I drove to a local nursery and filled the car. My yard indeed held many corners and nooks I’d previously overlooked. The greatest advice for my newly planted natives: Water them often during the first weeks as they take root, then step back and watch. First came the bees and longwing zebra butterflies loving my firebush, which grew so fast I trimmed it frequently. However, it did not attract hummingbirds until I obtained the wisdom of 92-year- old Gablelite Diane at the nursery. “You missed the biggest problem here – you,” she told me. “You don’t go taming nature. That plant wants to roar tall and wild.” I stopped all trimming and in utter joy watched when my firebush reached six feet and two hummingbirds came along. Now over 10 feet tall, an entire fleet comes to feast. 

For butterflies, the nursery asked what I wanted to attract. Their guide: smaller butterflies are attracted by the nectar of small flowers and larger ones by the nectar of larger ones. They all have “true color vision,” as floral colors can be seen at a far distance, identifying potential food sources. 

Mari Arnold, Garden Club member and 52-year Gables resident, recalls, “I used to see a lot more bees and so many different butter- flies in my back yard. Atala butterflies are endangered now. It makes me sad…. They’d just raise your spirits immediately seeing one fly.” Sidney Daniel, also a Garden Club member and 78-year resident, agrees: “Nature was here before us, and we are to enjoy and respect it. Sadly, I’ve not seen enough of that around here.” With threats including habitat loss, climate change, and chemical use, The Journal of Biological Conservations asserts that 40 percent of our insects currently face extinction. 

In other words, creating a native wildlife habitat is good for our planet (and our mental health). So, should you have the space, choose a sunny open area of your garden with well-drained soil to accommodate 15-25 species of native pollinating plants for maximum biodiversity. Even smaller habitats attract a vast variety of native pollinators like our 315 bee species, 29 of which are found only in Florida. Worry not, as native bees rarely sting and like bats are reluctant to go near humans, let alone bite them. They’re too busy pollinating over 75 percent of our crops and avoiding our land- based birds. 

Meanwhile, it seems my adult self should go back and learn from my childhood self. Little Gracie used to know all this back then. I worry that our next generation may grow up never knowing these species. With one garden at a time, we need to sway the odds back in their favor. 

Inspired? Learn more by visiting coralgables.com/pollinators and coralgablesgardenclub.org. Or check out our community efforts for pollinator areas at sites including Merrick House, Robert J. Fewell Park, Miracle Mile, Coral Gables Public Library, and the Youth Center.