University Of Minnesota Extension Edible Gardens For People And Pollinators

Press release from the University of Minnesota Extension:

June 29, 2021

If you’re like most gardeners, you want to use your land as efficiently as possible, while growing plants you love and want to eat and that support pollinators. I have the great pleasure of working with the resident gardeners at Lake Minnetonka Shores in Spring Park, Minn., in a program we call "Garden Time."

Lake Minnetonka Shores (LMS) is a senior living community with levels of care and assistance as well as a slew of services and amenities for the residents including a massive raised bed garden on the landscaped grounds.

I became acquainted with LMS when my mother-in-law lived there. Her friends quickly found out I was a horticulture educator and would bring me their houseplants to diagnose. Eventually, I started having houseplant clinics twice a year and, over time, added educational presentations, an annual seed-starting lab, and garden time in the raised bed garden.

Feeding people and pollinators

LMS staff are great to work with and each year they provide me with space to plant a demonstration garden. For two years, I planted my "Flowers for Pollinators" annual flower trials there. This year I opted for an edible garden for people and pollinators where I could show a selection of plants that offer treats for both people and pollinators.

I tried to avoid some of the usual edibles. For example, I planted cinnamon basil and Sweet Dani lemon basil instead of my usual go-to Genovese sweet basil. And I planted daylilies (the buds are edible) and Lemon Gem marigolds (the flowers are edible and a good pollen source for small bees and syrphid flies).

As you visit your local garden center and look for plants for your garden, containers, and window boxes, consider choosing edibles that feed your taste buds and pollinators as well!

Plant list

This press release was produced by the University of Minnesota Extension. The views expressed here are the author’s own.