Cardinal Council Flower show in Bowling Green brings awareness to pollination

BOWLING GREEN Ky.- There’s something “buzzing” at the Cardinal Council Flower Show at the Bowling Green Historic Rail Park and Train Museum. The importance of pollination.

Pollinators that we rely on include bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and even some moths. The pollinators are under attack due to factors like habitat loss, and environmental contaminants, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Co-chair of the Cardinal Council Flower Show, Susan Throneberry, said these factors could be detrimental to having access to crop-based foods.

“We’re already seeing that happen, especially in California, and the areas that we get a lot of our food from if it’s not supplied by local farmers. Anything that needs a pollinator needs bees,” Throneberry said.

The need for pollinators is being noticed by those in the horticulture fields as well. Dr. Martin Stone is a Western Kentucky University Professor of Horticulture, as well as the director of Bowling Green’s Baker Arboretum. Stone said food isn’t the only thing we’d miss out on without pollinators.

“Besides the food angle, many of our native plants rely on pollinators to survive. Without them, we would lose our native plants. The pollinators are co- evolved with our native plants. They’re intricately linked, and if we lose one, we’re going to lose both,” Stone said.

With this in mind, it’s important to think of ways to keep our pollinating friends around for years to come. Stone says making gardens specifically for pollination is a useful tactic.

“To keep the pollinators happy, you can plant pollinator gardens. Pretty much, pollinators are attracted to plants that have showy flowers,” Stone said.

Stone emphasizes that pollinators need our help to continue doing what they do.

“Pollinators not only give us joy to look at and to enjoy them in the garden, they provide so much for us. They provide very beautiful plants, they provide food, the provide nutrition. A lot of times, we don’t think of it and we take them for granted. We really shouldn’t. We should pay more attention to them,” Stone said.