In the Garden: Pollinator project comes with lots of unexpected learning opportunities

Last May, my husband and I embarked on a landscape adventure by creating a large pollinator garden. It involved removing a hefty amount of our front lawn, bringing in additional soil, framing the bed, planting an interesting variety of perennials and annuals and, to be honest, doing a whole lot of weeding.

I’d been mulling over this project for a few years, but a 2018 visit to Chicago’s Lurie Garden in Millennium Park provided the inspiration I needed. This marvelous 2 1/2-acre rooftop garden was constructed over a series of parking garages. During our visit, I noted the abundance of beneficial insects and large numbers of monarch butterflies among the thriving native plants. I have to admit visions of those butterflies kept dancing in my head.

Our pollinator garden’s first growing season was a journey of discovery as we watched the plants grow and bloom while observing the variety of insects that visited them. While we didn’t see any monarchs, plenty of other butterflies stopped by.

It’s funny how a garden project like this has provided additional learning experiences that I wasn’t expecting, but they are being duly noted.

My first lesson was to buy local. I intended to only purchase plants from local nurseries, but when a full-color catalog from a Minnesota-based native plant nursery arrived in the dead of winter – at a time when a gardener’s willpower is ebbing – there was a slight change in plans. After all, they carried many of the plants I’d seen growing in the Lurie Garden, and those monarch butterflies loved them!

I placed an order for purple giant hyssop (the butterflies’ favorite), wild white indigo, stiff and Canadian goldenrod, hoary vervain, Bush’s coneflower and spotted bee balm. Unfortunately, those last three plants didn’t care for our growing conditions. In my defense, everything I selected was drought tolerant and hardy down to zone 4 or lower, but it underscores the importance of choosing natives from one’s own growing region. Thank heavens I planted a lot of those, as well.

I’ve also learned to be patient, which has never been my strong suit. Up until two weeks ago, I was certain all of the native milkweeds hadn’t made it through the winter and was very close to pulling up last year’s remnants. Amazingly enough, they suddenly decided it was time to get growing and are looking great.

Patience also is required when one isn’t too sure about the identity of certain newly emerging plants. I’ll study a seedling closely, wondering if it looks even remotely familiar, before deciding its fate. I’m embarrassed to admit that I pulled up several “weeds,” then later remembered I’d planted some new legume seeds (Sainfoin) in that area a while back. Fortunately, a few of them escaped the two fingers of death.

I’ve also been doing a lot of legitimate weeding. It’s been puzzling to discover the pollinator garden has been home to some annoying weeds that haven’t been a problem in the past. Since our new plants need to get off to a good start, I’ve been diligently employing the aforementioned fingers of death on a regular basis.

The stars of last year’s pollinator garden were the Gloriosa daisies, both goldenrods, butterfly weed, Oregon sunshine, cutleaf penstemon and three milkweed species (showy, swamp and whorled). Surprising enough, the purple giant hyssop has come back and is already living up to its name. Let’s hope the butterflies love it here in Spokane just as much as they did in Chicago.

Contact Susan Mulvihill at susan@susansinthegarden.com. Watch this week’s “Everyone Can Grow a Garden” video at youtube.com/c/susansinthegarden.