We’ve all heard of farm to table: restaurants serving food they source directly from local farms. Now we seem to be in the home edition of this movement. Couple that with the growing popularity of pollinator plants and backyard gardening is taking on a whole new look. We share three herbs that you will want in your kitchen and pollinator garden. 

With COVID many of us found a bit of extra time on our hands to spend in the yard. Cooking also saw an uptick- what else to do with all those free hours but eat? Small veggie and herb gardens are finding their way into more residential back yards. While you plant for yourself, be sure to include these three herbs for the pollinators.

Dill, Parsley, and Fennel are a cook’s delight, and they are also the host plant for the beautiful Black Swallowtail and Anise Swallowtail butterflies. 
The butterflies can feed on just about any blooming plant in your garden: nectar is what they crave. But it’s their caterpillars that require certain plants on which to feed. Dill has a soft, gentle appearance in the garden. Its pale delicate looking yellow flowers are lacy in appearance: a nice contrast to bolder plants. Same is true for fennel. If you are looking for a soft, wispy plant for the swallowtails, and cooking is not your priority either will work quite well in the garden. If you want some of the herbs for the kitchen, assume the butterflies will come and add extra plants to the garden: some for them, some for you.

Parsley is something I’ll have to grow this year. Like fennel, it blooms its second year. But no worries. You already have plenty of nectar plants for the butterflies, we just need the leaves for the caterpillars.