Plant for Pollinators
Create a Pollinator Garden with Seed Balls
Pollinators play an important role in creating and maintaining the habitats that animals and humans rely on for food and shelter. Create a seed ball or plant some of the native species below to attract butterflies and birds to your deck and yard.
Wildflower Seed Balls
Follow this step-by-step guide from the Student Conservation Association to make your own seed balls.
For this project you’ll need:
Regionally-appropriate Wildflower seeds
Natural clay (you can usually find this at a local craft store)
Top Soil
A Bowl of Water
Work Surface (preferably one you don’t mind getting dirty)
Directions:
- Choose wildflower seeds native to your region. Native plants help to strengthen the local ecosystem and provide healthier and more attractive habitat for the pollinators you’re trying to help. Explore this region-by-region list to find pollinator-friendly plants native to your area.
- Gather all your supplies on a surface you don’t mind getting dirty.
- Form your seed ball. Take a small lump of clay and combine it with some soil in whatever ratio is necessary for everything to stick together and form a quarter-sized ball. If it’s too dry, add a little bit of water. The mixture should be damp, but not dripping wet.
- Add just a few seeds (3 to 5 seeds per ball so they have enough soil and clay to grow) and use your fingers to work them into the clay and soil mixture. If you’re working with large seeds it’s okay for them to end up near the ball’s core, but for smaller seeds, try to keep them nearer to the surface.
- Roll the ball between your palms until it forms a nice, smooth, quarter-sized sphere. Set it aside and repeat these steps until you have enough seed balls to share.
- Toss your seed balls onto well-lit patches of soft dirt where there aren’t already a lot of other plants. If you want to plant them in a grassy part of your yard, scratch up the dirt a bit before you set them down.
- Watch your pollinator garden grow!
Discover Grace Farms’ Native Meadows
Part of Grace Farms’ 80 acres of open space has been transformed into beautiful native meadows. Learn about some of the pollinator-friendly plants that invite butterflies, birds, and beneficial insects to our meadows.
Butterfly Milkweed
Beyond just providing nectar for pollinators, monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed plants.photo taken at Grace Farms by Julien Jarry
Coneflower
Blooming from mid-summer through the fall, coneflowers are favorites of long-tongued bees and butterflies.photo taken at Grace Farms by Julien Jarry
Eastern Daisy Fleabane
These yellow and white flowers attract butterflies and bees in early spring and summer when there aren't many other plants in flower.photo taken at Grace Farms by Julien Jarry
Golden Coreopsis
These long-blooming flowers with bright colors attract a diversity of pollinators.photo taken at Grace Farms by Julien Jarry
Wild Bergamot
Also known as bee balm, wild bergamot is a favorite of bees, hummingbirds, and hawk moths.photo taken at Grace Farms by Julien Jarry
Black Eyed Susan
Pollinators like moths, butterflies, and bees are attracted to the bright yellow of this easy-to-grow, native plant.photo taken at Grace Farms by Julien Jarry
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