How to start a garden to feed the pollinators

Growing plants packed with nectar and pollen, like blooming flowers, helps feed pollinators.

It's still a few weeks too early to settle milkweed, coneflowers or lavender into a garden outside, but you can plant the seeds of these yummy flowers indoors now and transfer them outdoors later, around the start of May.

(Or, if you want to grow something you can eat instead, an indoor garden is a great place to grow herbs like basil, dill and chives.)

Follow the directions below to start a pollinator garden and to make creative bug markers, inspired by the Dilly Dali Art blog, that can help you keep track of which plant is which. Once your seeds bloom, sit your pots outside (or replant them in a garden) to give pollinators like bees and butterflies a snack.

What you'll need:

•

Small pots or jars

•

Seeds

•

Soil

•

An empty milk jug

•

Scissors

•

A push-pin

•

Wire, a twist-tie or a paper clip

•

Tape

•

Paper

•

A stick, chopstick or disposable utensil

1. Fill your pots about two-thirds full of potting soil.

2. Sprinkle your seeds into the dirt, following the directions on your seed packet.

3. Lightly cover the seeds with more dirt.

4. Until it's warmer outside, place your pots on a windowsill or somewhere else they will get lots of sun indoors. Check often for signs your plant is growing, like green stems poking up through the dirt.

5. To make your plant markers, rinse out an empty jug of milk or juice. Save the cap, then carefully cut out a big piece of plastic from the jug with an adult's help. From the larger piece, cut out a pair of wings.

6. With a pushpin, make two holes in the middle of the milk jug cap and in the middle of the wings.

7. Ask an adult to help you straighten out the paper clip and thread the ends through the cap and the wings. Twist the ends around your stick.

8. Cut out two small circles to give your bug some eyes or decorate your cap however you want. Write down the kind of seed you planted and tape it to the middle of your stick, then put it in your pot.

Comments: molly.duffy@thegazette.com