Local Pollinator Plants - Featured in NWF Newsletter

Local Volunteer Naturalist Chris Southwick's Photo is featured in the National Wildlife Federation newsletter on Native Plant Pollinators. 

“My favorite native plant is the snowberry. In late spring and early summer, both Anna’s and rufous hummingbirds entertain while drinking nectar from its dainty pinkish flowers and vying for dominance. The round leaves are visually pleasing, and other birds often dart out from under its shelter. In the winter, the small white orbs for which the plant is named gleam in the sun, accent cloudy days and even look pretty in the rain. Since snowberry is a Northwest native, it requires almost nothing from me—nature takes care of its needs.”—Christine Southwick of Shoreline, Washington

Chris is a frequent contributor to Shoreline Area News with excellent articles on birdwatching. She is a board member of the Puget Sound Bird Observatory and has done extensive work on bird banding studies for the Shoreline Community Backyard Wildlife Project.

Chris banding a chickadee

Pollinators include many species such as Honey Bees, Butterflies and Moths, Hummingbirds and even bats.

Snowberry is a NW Native and can grow into large patches. It like sun, and wetlands. It is also known as a beautiful winter plant because of it's distinctive white berries that are attractive to birds in winter.

Snowberries
ph credit - Greg Rayborn
KC Native Plant Guide
http://green.kingcounty.gov/gonative/Plant.aspx?Act=view&PlantID=36

The newsletter is featuring Plant Pollinators for this week. It is National Pollinator Week.

Plants for Pollinators: A Collection of Favorites

Wildlife gardeners across the country share photos and descriptions of prized native plants that attract pollinators to their yards (Updated 6/3/2011)

06-07-2010 // Edited by Kelly Senser

http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Gardening/Archives/2010/Native-Plants-for-Pollinators.aspx

The fifth annual National Pollinator Week takes place June 20-26, 2011. To celebrate, we asked gardeners across the country who’ve created wildlife-friendly habitats to talk about some of their favorite native plants for attracting bees, butterflies, birds and other pollinating species. Following are the descriptions and images they shared.