Pollination is one of the single most important processes that must take place in your garden for you to be able to get the majority of your plants to reproduce. But there are quite a few factors working against this seemingly most basic of natural processes. First let’s talk about pollination and how it occurs.

While there are a few exceptions, (such as potatoes) most plants that produce edible crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers have flowers that need to be pollinated for those fruits to grow.

In the most basic of descriptions, pollination is the process of transferring pollen from the anthers (the male part of the flower) to the stigma (the female part of the flower). Some plants have flowers that contain both male and female parts. When pollination occurs in these flowers, we call it self-pollination. Other plants have differentiated male and female flowers. When pollination occurs in these flowers, we call it cross-pollination. Either way, pollination usually needs an outside force, like a pollinating insect to move the pollen from where it is to where it needs to go. In self-pollinating flowers, sometimes the wind or jostling of the flowers is enough for pollination, but for the most part, pollinators take care of this task. In other crops such as corn, they rely on the wind or rain to move the pollen from the top of the plant to the flowers below.

While most of us are familiar with European honeybees as pollinators, the reality is that they are only responsible for a small percentage of pollination events. The majority of pollination results from the activities of native bees, birds, bats, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, and wasps. In some parts of the world, Lemurs are considered pollinators.

While flowers are beautiful and there’s no doubt they add beauty to our lives, their primary purpose is to attract a pollinator insect so it can reproduce. The shape of the flower determines which pollinators are attracted. For example, hummingbirds are attracted to more tube-like flowers which allow their beaks to reach inside for nectar. Other flowers are bigger and flatter, providing a place for butterflies to land and move from flower to flower for a sweet nectar snack. Since corn is wind pollinated, we don’t see beautiful flowers on corn plants but that doesn’t make those giant corn plants look any less beautiful to me. At the Master Gardener Seed to Supper Farm, we grow about half an acre of corn each year. It’s hard for me not the hear “if you build it, they will come” as I walk through the corn field… those who know will know what I mean.

Just so we know how important pollinating insects are, 3/4 of the world’s flowering plants and about 1/3 of all food crops depend on pollinators for pollination. A certain percentage of European honeybees are shipped from location to location to perform pollination on a variety of crops. In fact, during February, about 90% of the European honeybee population in the United States is at work in California.

However, in the bee category, the 4000 native bee species found in the United States do most of the heavy lifting for our agricultural crops. While we tend to think of bees living in hives or in groups, about 90% of the 4000 species we have in the U.S. are solitary bees meaning that the female bees build their own nests to live in and care for their young.

Unfortunately, we see news from time to time that tells us we are experiencing a decline in pollinator populations. There are a variety of reasons for this, and most can be traced to us.

One of the problems is that we tend to destroy native pollinator habitats when we build houses or commercial structures. Once destroyed, these habitats are gone forever. We are seeing a trend in encouraging people to abandon turf lawns for more natural habitats. This is great, but in reality, I don’t see most of our neighborhoods moving in that direction. To defend against this destruction, each one of us can use our personal landscape to counter this destruction by planting flowers that encourage and feed native pollinators.

While leaning toward native plants is great, that doesn’t mean we need to abandon those unique and new varieties we bring into our gardens each year. This will no doubt get me in trouble with some of the purists, but I figure 1/4 to 1/2 native plants in your garden is better than none. So, next time you are at the garden center purchasing flowers, add some native plants to your landscape. You’ll be happy to find that they actually love heat and are somewhat drought tolerant, which makes them perfect additions to your garden. We have information on native plants in the Flowers portion of the Lawn and Garden Help section on our website tulsamastergardeners.org. And, in the spring for our annual plant sale fundraiser we have an entire section highlighting native plants as well as plants for pollinators.

One of the other contributing factors to pollinator decline is our use and over-use of pesticides. Pesticides need to be our last resort solution, but even when we use them, we need to use as directed and use pesticides in a way that solves the issue with a minimum of collateral damage. Again, we have information on our website about organic pesticides and their use.

So, two things you can do to help minimize pollinator decline are: plant native/pollinator plants and minimize pesticide usage. This seems like something that would be good for all of us. See you in the garden!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: OSU Ag. Communications