The Pollinator Garden is located to the right of the main entrance of the Longhouse. This has been designed to support pollinators with both native and non-native plants. Many plants and pollinators have co-evolved over time. For example, certain species of plants are known to attract certain species of pollinators. This attraction can be due to the plant’s unique smell, shape, or color among other things. Hummingbirds are attracted to plants with bright red flowers, such as penstemon, with a long tubular shape and no odor. This is because hummingbirds have no sense of smell but excellent vision and a long pointy proboscis. There are many examples of the plant-pollinator relationships.

One of the goals of this garden is to provide ideal habitats for wild pollinators to thrive from larva stage to adulthood. This is accomplished through the inclusion of plants that not only provide nectar and food sources, but places to nest as well. As Rowan Jacobsen puts it in Fruitless Fall, “by landscaping your yard with pollinators in mind, you put yourself at that intersection of communities. You invite the wild right up to your door,” (Jacobsen 2008:236). It is important to support pollinators because they are in rapid decline, especially bumblebees. The presence of these pollinators supports other areas of the Longhouse Garden. It may seem like a small gesture in the face of a massive bee collapse and agricultural crisis, but its significance is monumental. Hopefully its impact will be as well, encouraging others to follow suit.

Written by Anna Gordon, Branching Out: An Ethnobotanical Garden in Community, Fall 2014 (edited Lisa Lombardo 2024)