How to Attract Pollinators to Your Garden
by Josie Gonzalez, El Paso Master Gardener
Bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies, and some beetles pollinate more than seventy percent of flowering plants. These important insects are called pollinators. Although bats, birds, and even lemurs can pollinate flowers, the vast majority of pollinating animals, world-wide, are insects.
According to the National Academy of Sciences, close to seventy-five percent of the flowering plants on earth rely to some degree on pollinators in order to set seeds or fruit. One-third of the food for humans comes from flowering plants and an even greater proportion of the food for our wildlife comes from them.
Although beautiful healthy plants are able to emerge without pollinators, no fruits or seeds are generated. Some El Paso gardeners have experienced this dilemma only to find themselves pollinating their vegetables with cotton swabs and tiny paint brushes. If you are one of these unfortunate gardeners, you have experienced the importance of pollinators or rather the lack of pollinators. Here are a few ideas that may help you to attract more pollinators to your garden.
Related articles from the Learn » Gardening Topics-Links page:
Plant a Honey Bee Friendly Garden (includes native bees & bee-attracting plants)
Event: You may be interested in the June 23rd Farmers’ Market Talk on How to Make a Pollinator Hotel just in time for National Pollinator Week, June 18-24.
What Happens When You Combine Fresh Vegetables and Crafts?
Credit: Farmers’ Market Information Booth from El Paso Master Gardener Facebook
Your Saturday morning trip to the Farmers’ Market will be a creative and rewarding experience. Fresh vegetables, El Paso Master Gardeners ready to answer your gardening questions, and weekly topics on vegetable-related crafts will be combined in a brand-new way this season.
Come each summer Saturday morning to our Information Booth at Ardovino’s Farmers’ Market. The vegetables for sale are grown at our Texas A&M AgriLife Vegetable Demonstration Garden and the availability will reflect what’s in season as the summer progresses. In addition to sharing our research-based horticultural training, we’ll be selling our new El Paso Gardening Handbook. Visit our Events page to learn the topics and schedule for each Saturday morning.
June 12 – Postponed Vegetable Sale & Info Table
Come See Us June 26th near Ascarate Park
The Latest Tips on Tree Selection, Planting and Care
Credit: Tree Campus USA (CC BY 2.0)
El Paso County Master Gardeners get lots of questions about trees. People want to know how to select and plant them, how much to water them, what kinds of trees are best for El Paso, and what to do if their tree is no longer thriving. We answer these questions and more in a new, research-based article called Help Your Tree Survive in El Paso. Read it to learn both what to do, and what not to do, for the maximum health of your tree.
Related articles from the Learn » Gardening Topics-Links page:
Regional Recommended Tree List (TPG List)
Trees for High Desert Communities
Buzz Off! Prevent Mosquitoes to Reduce Disease
Are You Ready for Hummingbirds and Butterflies?
Many of us have started to see hummingbirds feeding on the nectar of our spring flowers in our yards and butterflies are making an appearance, too. If you’re a regular hummingbird “caretaker”, you’ve already had your hummingbird feeder out for a month or longer. There are ways to make your landscape more attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies. Listen to this Good to Grow radio show and read our brochure to learn more.
Hummingbird and Butterfly Habitats
Create a Hummingbird and Butterfly Habitat
For a light-hearted look at finding hummingbirds in different parts of Texas, see Chasing Hummingbirds Across Texas, a Texas Master Naturalist presentation in PDF format. Throughout you’ll find various pages with hummingbirds found in parts of west Texas.
Improve Your Skills with Our Informative El Paso Gardening Handbook
There are many types of gardeners in El Paso. Some tend to their vegetable gardens, whether in raised beds or containers, while others pride themselves in their yards that feature native and adapted plants. Some have recently moved here and aren’t sure where to start now that they’re in the high desert, don’t recognize many of the desert landscape plants, and wonder if they can have a lawn.
For all these types of gardeners, the El Paso County Master Gardeners created a one-of-a-kind illustrated gardening handbook for our area. The El Paso Gardening Handbook addresses El Paso specific gardening concerns and best practices. With sections on ornamentals, edibles, turf, native and adapted plants, woody plants, and climate, it will appeal to both experienced and novice gardeners.
By the Season – Gardening in El Paso
June Monthly Tips
Why We Landscape with Native and Adaptive Plants
The Secret to Growing Tomatoes in El Paso
Texas Home Vegetable Gardening Guide
Vegetable Planting Calendar for El Paso County
Vegetable Varieties for El Paso County
Vegetables – Easy Gardening Series (scroll down for Spanish)
Weeds of Texas Turf (good photos for ID of weeds)
Weeds-Pest Notes Library (see weed management tips)
What is Vermicomposting and How is it Done?
Good to Grow Radio Shows 
(Current and Archived)
Summer Watering Tips
Summer Vacation Plant Care
Tips on Picking the Perfect Native Plant for You
Native Plants
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
Garden Insects and Pests
Garden Pests
All About Tomatoes
Vegetable Container Gardening
Watering Your Landscape
Lawn Irrigation
Listen live on Saturdays at 11:15 a.m. on 88.5 FM or stream from the archives at KTEP Good to Grow. Read more about our Good to Grow Radio Show, here.
2 Easy Ways to Contact Our Help Desk
Do you have gardening or landscape questions and don’t know who to ask? The El Paso Master Gardener Help Desk is open now for the 2018 season. Our Help Desk hours are Monday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and we’ll be happy to assist you. When you phone the Help Desk (915-771-2354) you will talk with a volunteer who will provide research-based horticultural information. If a Master Gardener is not available when you call, please leave a message and you will be contacted as soon as possible. Or, you may complete the Ask the Help Desk form which accepts photos and gives the option to receive an answer by phone or email.
Newcomer’s Gardening Snapshot for El Paso County
Many new residents arrive in El Paso each year from climates and growing conditions much different than the Chihuahuan desert. This Newcomer’s Snapshot highlights some main features of El Paso’s climate and provides links to helpful, informative websites.
It’s Easy to Support El Paso Master Gardeners
Please support the El Paso County Master Gardener Association by starting your shopping at AmazonSmile. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the same convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to El Paso County Master Gardeners. You shop. Amazon gives.
Tens of millions of products on AmazonSmile are eligible for donations and you can use your existing Amazon.com account on AmazonSmile. You’ll know you’ve got it right when your AmazonSmile upper page banner shows this message: 
.
Also, only purchases at smile.amazon.com (not www.amazon.com nor the mobile app) will support us or other charitable organizations. Thank you for your support.
Who We Are
The El Paso County Master Gardeners Association, as a member of the Texas Master Gardeners Association, is a non-profit educational and charitable organization supporting the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in providing quality, relevant outreach and continuing education programs and services to the people of El Paso County. Our local volunteers receive extensive training and experience in a wide range of subjects before certification as Texas Master Gardeners.
In collaboration with the County A&M AgriLife Horticultural Agent, Denise Rodriguez, we educate the community through various events, workshops, and demonstration gardens. Our Master Gardeners volunteer through our Outreach programs and community Projects to provide information and recommendations on horticultural topics to all residents of El Paso County.
| About Us-El Paso MasterGardeners |
Learn |
| Outreach | Ask Us |
| Projects | Monthly Tips |
| Events |
Webmaster: Mary Ann McCravey
Content Editor: Marlene Stalker
