🦋 Pollinator PLUS Workshop Buzzes for Great SE Pollinator Census

WorkshopsBotanical Garden
Written By Kelly Vendetti

On Friday, August 22, and Saturday, August 23, the Brunswick County Botanical Garden came alive with activity as participants in the Pollinator PLUS Workshop joined the Great Southeast Pollinator Census. Attendees received training on the benefits of pollinators and the challenges facing their habitats, then headed into the gardens to tally the bees, butterflies, and even a dragonfly moving from bloom to bloom. Each participant also took home pollinator plants to continue the work in their own backyards.

🥁✨ Pollinator Counts:

  • Carpenter Bees: 798

  • Bumble Bees: 403

  • Honey Bees: 22

  • Small Bees: 260

  • Wasps: 488

  • Flies: 339

  • Butterflies: 428

  • Other: 226

Survey feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many requesting more workshops in the future. A heartfelt thank-you to the Master Gardener℠ Volunteers and Extension staff whose dedication and expertise made this event such a success.

👉Click on the images below to learn more about the plants.

A close-up of a pale yellow butterfly perched on a vivid red zinnia bloom, sipping nectar in the summer sun.

Annual zinnias are not host plants, but are loved by lots of pollinators for their nectar.

A bright yellow butterfly and a large bumblebee gather nectar from a vibrant red Gaillardia (blanket flower), showcasing the diversity of pollinators recorded during the census.

This native bee loves our showy gaillardia, which does very well in our area with minimal watering. 

A silver-spotted skipper butterfly with brown wings marked by orange and white patches feeds on clusters of pale pink and white abelia blossoms.

Butterflies often get nectar from non-native plants, including this abelia.

A group of workshop participants record observations among native plants in the Sunny Native Garden while taking part in the Great Southeast Pollinator Census.

Participants in our Pollinator Plus workshop participated in the Great SE Pollinator Census, here in Sunny Native Garden. 

An orange-and-black monarch butterfly rests on a milkweed plant in the Sunny Native Garden, a highlight of the census observations.

The monarchs participated in the census also, on milkweed in Sunny Native Garden. 

Kelly Vendetti
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