This month, we’ll see the first spring flowers—daffodils, forsythias, flowering quince, brides wreath—but wait! None of these flowers are native to Arkansas. What does this mean? You may see pollinators like bees and butterflies visiting them, but because they’re not native, they cannot host caterpillars of butterflies and moths.
They are outside of the food web in a very significant way, because caterpillars are a main driver of food webs. Without caterpillars, we’ll see no baby cardinals, chickadees and many other bird species. What should you be growing?
Violets, pussytoes, and phlox are great groundcover. Eastern columbines and roundleaf groundsel produce beautiful spring blooms. All of these not only support pollinators but also host caterpillars.