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Researching pollinators in Hampton Roads

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Category: research Video duration: Researching pollinators in Hampton Roads
The Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center conducts research on plants and flowers that are beneficial to pollinators such as bee, butterflies, and other insects. Students and master gardeners alike come learn how to make a better pollinator gardens for their home and communities.


Well, we support the nursery landscape industries here at our research station in Virginia Beach. One of the important topics is pollinators, we want to increase the number of pollinators, bees, butterflies, etcetera. So we've been doing plantings for the general public, as well as plantings in a more of the research setting on our station to attract and document types of bees and other insects, other pollinators that are coming. As this is such a critical area, the need for pollinators for our fruit production, vegetable production, and other crops. We here at the Hampton roads are developing a motto, just basically "plant anything". Plant anything, and they'll come. They'll find it and they'll thank you. So any pollinators, anything that you think of. If you don't have a specific plant or a specific flower, but you have anything that is going to flower, please just go ahead and plant it because that is what they're looking for. They're looking for pollen, nectar, and all those resources that are being restricted and fragmented. So they get pulled apart since we're in the city and we're developing all these properties, the idea is that if we put these patches of resources, they're going to come and they want to visit those, and they're going to be able to get those resources from them. No landscape is too small. It can be as small as one plant in one pot