Bombus vagans, half-black bumblebee, on the rhubarb flowers.

For the past few years I've been replacing lawn with clover. It really thrives in this soil, better than the grass in fact. It also has allowed the wild strawberry to spread. #Gardening #Zone5 #Clover #Pollinators

Lots of ants, flies, and beetles have been showing up in the pawpaw patch. Apparently highly attractive to scorpionflies (Mecoptera), too, though I've yet to see them. #annonaceae #pawpaw #tree #plants #flies #ants #pollinators #flowers #insects

Saw some honey bees on the rhubarb, maybe 2 or 3. I'll probably give it a few days and cut them off when they start making seeds.

A warm Friday in the yard, wildflowers and pollinators are out. Here a blue flower (California Blue Bell?) and an insect, any input appreciated.

My old plum tree might be going overboard. Some of the bumblebees are terrifyingly large! #Bloomscrolling #pollinators

If you are a USian lawnlord, you may look down in the early Spring and see many tiny bluish flowers and determine that you have weeds to remove and pull out some weedkiller.

OTOH if you were trying to improve life for early #pollinators, very important, you would let some of these small but complex flowers have their time in the sun.

It's not native to the US and is weedy, but flowers even in late winter, so it can be an important pollen and nectar source when there are few other choices.

Foragers have been known to make tea or decorate foods with this edible plant and flower.

Common Field Speedwell (Birdeye Speedwell or Birds-Eye Speedwell are other names)
Veronica persica

Some pond life. Hoverflies and flowering pond plants. #Pollinators #PondLife #Garden

For the Manufactured Ecosystems art show about the future of pollination I have been looking at what nature-inspired technologies exist or are already proposed or that I could envision to pollinate plants, faced with a precipitous drop in pollinator numbers. But, I am also turning an artist’s eye to larger implications. 1/n

*edit @Spaceways Suggested a Yellow-haired Sun Fly, Myathropa florea, the Batman hoverfly, and they have been identified in the region, and it really looks like one.
...

Some kind of drone fly I guess. Seems more yellow than most of the photos of the 'Common' one. It's on a chokecherry blossom.

Sowed five pounds of clover and some lupine and zinnia in a new flower bed I dug. Part of a long term plan to replace the lawn. I get a lot more pollinators now than I did seven years ago, when it was five acres of lawn. #Gardening #Zone5 #Clover #Lupine #Zinnia #Pollinators

They’re turning the Freshkills landfill in Staten Island into a haven for pollinators!

The Freshkills Park Alliance launched its 50,000 Violets Project, which aims to attract bees, monarch butterflies, and other pollinators to the purple fields, this week!
#environment #landfill #pollinators #wildlife #nyc #newyork

https://secure.qgiv.com/for/freshkillsparkalliance50kvioletsproject?ck_subscriber_id=2496857656&utm_source=convertkit&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=A%20sea%20of%20violets%20for%20Staten%20Island%20-%2017404585

Bumble bees are important pollinators:

"Like honey bees, bumble bees live socially in hives which provide shelter and a place to raise their young. Usually located underground [..] bumble bee hives usually include between 50-500 individuals.

Managed bumble bee hives have become big business during the past two decades as agricultural demand for bumble bee-pollinated berries, peppers and, especially, hothouse tomatoes has skyrocketed."

#gardening #pollinators

https://blog.nwf.org/2021/05/5-facts-about-bumble-bees-and-how-to-help-them/

When I was young my father gave up on controlling dandelions in our lawn and I am happy to report so have I in my lawn. Yes they are a non-native plant but the bees don't care.

Please consider No Mow May!
https://pollinators.ie/no-mow-may
#NoMowMay #Bees #Birds #Buttercups #Butterflies #Clover #Daises #Dandelions #Gardens #Lawn #Pollinators #Wildflowers

OH MY ... where to even start with today's #moth box?

I'll start with FUZZY FACES. More beauties to come later...

1) and 2) The giant POPLAR HAWK MOTH - as if torn from the pages of a magazine but with the cutest fuzzy face

3) and 4) The BUFF TIP - an impressive birch twig mimic.

Another Syrphus ribesii hoverfly. This one seemed a little smaller but I think it's the same. Could be female vs male differences.

Syrphus ribesii hoverfly enjoying the sun on the black currant.

The joys of having a wild garden. I've lived here for more than 12 years, and in that time, the garden went from trimmed hedges, mowed down grass, and no flowers to an absolute abundance of life.
By my last count, I have observed over 800 species. I do not count most of the plants as they wouldn't be here if I hadn't planted or sown them.
The biggest breakthrough was when I put in a small pond.
Every year, I make small tweaks and improvements, such as adding rotting wood, piles of twigs and branches, stone dikes, clay cobs, and nesting boxes. This year, I think I'll try to clear a small area and mix in some sand to attract more ground-nesting bees.

Is there an English equivalent to the Danish VildMedVilje (WildOnPurpose)?