Mid-summer Garden Tips: Don’t let your pollinators starve to death, mulch, shade and start new seed.

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“The proportion of insect species that are pests is minute. It’s like less than a 10th of 1% of species in the world. And, you know, the birds that eat insects in north America are declining at the same rate that the insect populations are going down. It’s [leading] to pollination problems. Even in a home garden, people have trouble getting zucchini pollinated.”

Linda Gilkeson is a knowledgable, fascinating person and she is also a PhD Entomologist and home gardener so she sees the situation with insects from both sides now.

“So if I want aphid predators, I want hover flies in the garden: I need Hoverfly flowers like Coreopsis and bright yellow flowers and cosmos.”

If you are wondering what to do in your garden this summer Linda suggests pollinating your own squash, watering, mulching, seeding fall crops and attracting beneficial insects like hoverflies. Join us for this information-packed interview with premier gardener Linda Gilkeson.

Books mentioned: “Backyard Bounty” (New Society Press), “West Coast Gardening” and “Resilient Gardens” (all can be ordered from Linda’s web site).

Note: Floating Row Cover is spun bound polyester. It has various trade names such as Reemay and Agribon. Fine-weave horticultural netting mentioned by Linda is also sold as ProtekNet.

The rare butterfly found on Linda’s native sedum (also called stonecrop) is the rare Moss’s elfin. See more about it here: http://www.lindagilkeson.ca/pdf/Butterflies%202020%20web.pdf

Pillbug (Sowbug, Roly Poly) eating spider: https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.php?identification=Sowbug-Killer-Spider

Difference between Pillbugs and Sowbugs: https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef439#:~:text=Sowbugs%20also%20have%20two%20tail,called%20%22roly%2Dpolies%22.

Website (reach Linda via her web site): www.lindagilkeson.ca