{"id":207,"date":"2024-01-03T08:40:06","date_gmt":"2024-01-03T13:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/?p=207"},"modified":"2024-01-03T08:40:07","modified_gmt":"2024-01-03T13:40:07","slug":"2024-new-years-pollinator-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/2024\/01\/2024-new-years-pollinator-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 New Year’s Pollinator Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Becky Griffin, Pollinator Census Project Coordinator: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 New Year’s Pollinator Challenge is to add at least new\u00a0native\u00a0<\/em>pollinator plant to your garden this year.<\/strong>\u00a0Native plants are under appreciated! \u00a0They generally require less inputs, handle native soil types, and can be magnets for our native pollinators. \u00a0We asked\u00a0Amy Dabbs<\/strong>, the South Carolina Census project coordinator, to tell us about her favorite native plant. Amy likes\u00a0coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens<\/em><\/a>) because of the long bloom time. \u00a0The perennial vine blooms in her Charleston, South Carolina, yard for nine months of the year attracting all types of pollinators, including hummingbirds. \u00a0The plant was also chosen as one of the University of Georgia’s 2002\u00a0Pollinator Plants of the Yea<\/a>r.<\/a>\u00a0 Coral honeysuckle requires light as well as air circulation. \u00a0The soil should have adequate drainage to prevent powdery mildew. \u00a0This vine is wonderful on a trellis or arbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Amanda Wilkins,<\/strong>\u00a0one of the North Carolina Census coordinators, enjoys all varieties of\u00a0mountainmint (Pycnanthemum<\/em>\u00a0spp.<\/a>). \u00a0Her choice is understandable as this plant brings ALL the pollinators to the yard – bees, wasps, flies, butterflies. \u00a0\u00a0Amanda says “there is one for every spot, habit, and aesthetic, and they have such a long bloom time.” \u00a0They are easy to grow in just about any soil type. \u00a0Once established this plant can handle times of drought and it spreads quickly to fill in any space. \u00a0In full sun it produces an abundant number of blooms. \u00a0It partial shade, it still thrives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When thinking about my favorite native pollinator plant, I will admit it changes year to year. \u00a0Right now,\u00a0summersweet (Clethra alnifolia<\/em>)\u00a0<\/a>is my pick. \u00a0The blooms of this lovely shrub have a pleasant fragrance and the spiked inflorescence adds a nice dimension to the garden. It is a perennial shrub that typically grows to 3-6 feet. \u00a0As a bonus, its peak bloom time is during the Great Southeast Pollinator Census!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Consider joining our challenge using the cold winter weeks as time for native plant research and planning. \u00a0Contact your local Extension office for native plant recommendations for your area. \u00a0In Georgia, we have the\u00a0Georgia Native Plant Society<\/a>\u00a0that also has wonderful native plant recommendations that are good for the entire southeast. \u00a0You might consider a\u00a0new native milkweed\u00a0<\/a>for your garden. \u00a0Of course, a native blooming during the Census gets you bonus points!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Join us on our social media pages, Southeast Pollinator Census Facebook page <\/a>and @SoutheastPollinators Instagram<\/a>, where we will be exploring pollinator gardens during the first of 2024.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy New Year and may 2024 bring even more pollinators to your garden,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becky<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becky Griffin
Project Coordinator
beckygri@uga.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Becky Griffin, Pollinator Census Project Coordinator: The 2024 New Year’s Pollinator Challenge is to add at least new\u00a0native\u00a0pollinator plant to your garden this year.\u00a0Native plants are under appreciated! \u00a0They generally require less inputs, handle native soil types, and can be magnets for our native pollinators. \u00a0We asked\u00a0Amy Dabbs, the South Carolina Census project coordinator, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-landscape-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions\/209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/barrowanr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}