Attracting Native Polinators

Book Title: Attracting Native Pollinators
Subtitle: Protecting North America's Bees and Butterflies
Author: The Xerces Society Guide
Genre: Farming
ISBN: 978-1-60342-695-4
Publisher: Storey Publishing
Suggested Retail Price: $29.95

From the book:

Bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies, and some beetles pollinate more than 70 percent of flowering plants, but North America's native pollinators face multiple threats to their healthy and habitat.  The Xerces Society offers a complete action plan for protecting these industrious animals but providing flowering habitat and nesting sites.
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Attracting Native Pollinators is a guide that will help not only farmers but anyone with an interest in helping to guarantee our food supply.  It will also appeal to the backyard gardener and homesteader as a reference book and an inspiration.  Without pollinators, fruits and vegetables will not grow. We need to encourage their growth and to do that we need to provide them with shelter and an environment that encourages them to grow.

Close to 75% of flowering plants on the earth require some sort of pollinator to set seed or fruit. From these plants comes one third of our food and an even larger portion of food for our wildlife. Attracting Native Pollinators walks you through an introduction to native pollinators that is very easy to understand and comprehensive.  Whether the topic is totally new to you or you're a seasoned pro, you'll find some great information. The introduction explains why you should care about pollinators and what benefits they offer. It also discusses topics like pest management and conservation.

Chapter three introduces you to each pollinator with some great pictures and information. It also talks about insect life stages, nesting styles,  and reproduction. It tells you how to differentiate between butterflies & moths and wasps and bees.The second chapter includes a ton of information on the biology of pollination. I loved this chapter. I'm a seasoned gardener and still found lots of information I wasn't aware of. It discusses self pollination versus cross pollination and gives a fantastic introduction to the parts of flowers, germination, and fertilization.  Chapter four talks about threats to pollinators including habitat loss, exotic organisms, climate change and pesticides. It also discusses genetically modified crops

The second part of the book explains how you can take action to help the pollinators by protecting, enhancing or restoring wildflower-rich habitats.  It also talks about nest sites, host plants and overwintering refuges.  It encourages you to advocate for conservation and support wildlife, beautify our world and support sustainable farms and urban environments. It goes into depth about how to provide a foraging habitat and encourages native plants and pesticide free habitats. It has a great how to section on constructing a wooden nest block. There is a very handy regional plant list for native pollinator gardens that explains which plants are native to which regions of the United States as well as a low cost ornamental section with pictures.

Part three is an in depth look at bees of North America that will help you identify some of the more common bees.  It also talks about the families of bees found globally and their characteristics. The information on class systems would work really well for a homeschool unit study. I had no idea there were so many different types of bees. Now I know what they are and how to identify if they're male or female. There are photos, information on identification, foraging, nests, conservation concerns and even similar insects.

Part four walks you through creating a pollinator friendly landscape with plans for many different sample gardens.  It also gives you a regional plant list for native pollinator gardens that gives common name, scientific name, bloom time, flower color and cultural requirements. It also includes a handy reference with picture & growing conditions for different native wildflowers and which type of pollinator is attracted to each. This book is definitely a valuable resource to have in your gardening library.

This is a really helpful, in depth book. It has great information that can be used by a wide range of people from your casual gardener to farmers and those concerned with public areas like golf courses, industrial sites and parks.

My thanks to Storey Publishing for allowing me to review this book.

As required by the FTC: I received a product sample in order to write my review.  I received no monetary compensation.  All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.