{"id":35744,"date":"2022-05-21T00:01:39","date_gmt":"2022-05-21T07:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=35744"},"modified":"2026-06-06T07:21:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T07:21:35","slug":"a-pollinator-in-my-pollinator-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/a-pollinator-in-my-pollinator-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"There’s a Pollinator in My Pollinator Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A butterfly paid a visit to my brand new pollinator garden. I think it was a Woodland Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanoides). Look closely and you might see the proboscis seeking out nectar on the Armeria maritima. Photos by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My brand-new pollinator garden has turned out to be — a pollinator garden. The plants were put in exactly one week ago today, and when I stepped outside yesterday to see how things were going — I spotted a pollinator in my pollinator garden.<\/p>\n

It was a butterfly.\u00a0I took pictures.<\/p>\n

The new plants are doing beautifully, thanks in part to the new drip irrigation system. So it’s no wonder that winged critters are finding their way to our new side and back yards. There are blossoms all over the place — up and down the side stairway and back and forth across the terracing down back.<\/p>\n

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Our side yard is now complete — concrete stairs, redwood landings, metal fence, drip irrigation — and a pollinator garden with flowers I can cut and bring inside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You’d think the new plants — the columbine, the alstromeria, the kangaroo paws — would take some time off after getting planted. You’d think they’d want to dig in and and let their roots get acquainted with their new spot on Earth before throwing blossoms out at the world.<\/p>\n

But no, everybody, even the salvia, was blooming like crazy yesterday.<\/p>\n

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Our backyard is now terraced with a series of walls — a brick and wood walkway, then walls of stacked stone, salvaged concrete pieces, and concrete blocks. The drought resistant manzanita and the salvia are just getting started. l<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A lipstick salvia is blooming away on one of the new terraces built with stacked rock walls. Photos by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for that butterfly, I’m pretty sure it’s a Woodland Skipper, a local native.\u00a0Aka Ochlodes-sylvanoides.<\/p>\n

Ochlodes-sylvanoides — what a lovely mouthful. I like my plants. But maybe I like my new friend, Ochlodes-sylvanoides, even more.<\/p>\n

See before pictures of our side yard at “Fixing Up That Homely Old Side Yard at Last.”<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0More on the backyard at\u00a0 “When a Widow Laughs — Or a Backyard Work in Progress.”<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n