Decorating Your Garden for Pollinators

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As gardeners, there are a lot of things we can do to help our local pollinators. Leaving tall cut stems for bees to nest in, planting beautiful blooming flowers to feed from, and limiting pesticide use are all ways to encourage pollinator activity in your garden. But, some of these can be a lot of work! Keep your friendly little pollinators fed, hydrated, and sheltered with stylish décor pieces that have both beauty and function.

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Feeding Your Pollinators

Put simply, pollination occurs when pollen is transferred from one flower’s male part to another flower’s female part as certain insects, birds, bats, and more—moves from flower to flower to collect nectar to drink or pollen to eat. Once a flower receives pollen, it is fertilized and therefore can develop fruit! Planting a pollinator-friendly garden is one way to help feed your local nectar-loving friends. If you’re short on space (or don’t want to replant your entire garden!) you can select a gorgeous decorative pot and fill it with a selection of pollinator-friendly plants. Consider lavender, anise hyssop, or marigolds, all of which are easy to grow in pots!


Don’t feel like getting your gardening gloves on? No problem. Hummingbird feeders are another excellent way to encourage these beautiful friends to visit your garden. Just keep your feeder filled with one part sugar to four parts water to keep hummingbirds returning time and time again!

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A Positively-Perfect Home for Your Pollinators

For many pollinators, just enjoying a garden stocked with food and water sources is more than enough. That said, if you want to take things a step further in providing a refuge for pollinators in your yard, be sure to provide shelter! While hummingbirds don’t use birdhouses, they love having spots to rest. Often they’ll choose branches, but statuary and garden furniture certainly aren’t off the table for a great hummingbird perch. Hummingbird-friendly décor will have sturdy, narrow pieces that they can grip onto with their small feet.

If you’re buzzing for bees and want to attract more, you can always plant bee friendly plants and flowers in place of traditional lawns. To make bees feel even more at home, consider creating a DIY bee-friendly hotel using hollow twigs and sticks held together by a wooden frame or twine. This DIY project will attract solitary native bee species, encouraging them to make your garden their home and to pollinate your plants while they’re there!

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Providing Water for Pollinators

Water features win the award for style and pollinator-friendly function. Once you’ve finished adorning your garden with plants and other decorative pieces that provide food and shelter, you can move on to supplying a beautiful water source! 

Bird baths and water fountains help make your space more pollinator-friendly by ensuring your  winged visitors get enough water, especially on hot days. All you need to do is find a water feature that matches your own special style, install it in your garden, and wait for the pollinators to come. You’ll be rewarded with bright hummingbirds, beautiful butterflies, and buzzing bees. If a water feature is out of your price range for now, we have a great DIY option! Get a pot saucer and layer it with pebbles or rounded glass beads of your choosing. Fill it with water almost to the top, leaving an area on the pebbles exposed for bees to stop in and drink.

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There’s so much more to creating a South Florida pollinator-friendly garden than planting flowers. If you don’t want to pick up a shovel and get your gloves dirty, you can still do so much in your own backyard to create a space for the bees and the birds. From hummingbird feeders to water fountains, Living Color Garden Center has what you need to make your garden a pollinator heaven!

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