The Dirt: These pollinators may surprise you

June is Pollinator Month, and you may think that’s your cue to celebrate the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Which of course you should do. But how about their lesser known but equally hard-working counterparts, like bats, beetles, lemurs, and geckos? Without bats’ activity, we might not have the yummy bananas, guavas, and mangoes that we love to eat. And don’t swat the bee-lookalike hoverflies, which are one of the most prolific pollinators. As they crawl around on a blossom eating the nectar, flecks of pollen stick to tiny hairs on their bodies and hitch a ride to the next bud. Why not plant more native bloomers to attract these creatures and help them grow even more greenery?

Here’s another way to have a deeper appreciation for pollinators and all of nature, in fact. Read the brand new book, Noticing: Intimate Encounters with the Natural World, by Rich Louv, who also wrote the bestselling Last Child in the Woods. He writes about the “bioenchantment” of exploring the rich wilderness surrounding his home near San Diego, California home, one of the most biodiverse counties in the nation. It’s a very personal book combining scientific research, indigenous wisdom, mindfulness practices, and his own encounters with nature. Maybe he can tell us what the fox says. (For more thoughts on noticing nature, check out our columnist Rob Walker.)

While spending time in nature is a recognized way to boost your spirits, you can kick things into high gear with TikTok gardening accounts. Creator Amy Chapman @inthecottagegarden, who describes herself as having had intense anxiety, shares fun, mood-lifting garden projects, like growing your own chamomile for tea, cultivating mushrooms in a bucket of used coffee grounds, and creating raised beds with (free) woven branches. She calls it “dopamine gardening” (she published a book by the same name in the U.K.). And influencer Terrence Bradshaw @xterrencebjr says he also gets a feel-good rush when gardening: “It reminds me to slow down and take care of something outside of myself. There’s something really grounding about seeing growth happen because of consistency. It’s a quiet reminder that small actions add up.” 

A less pleasant side effect of spending time in nature for some of us: hay fever. Does yours seem to be hanging on longer than in the past? It’s not your imagination, unfortunately. Recent research indicates that pollen season is stretching longer due to climate change. The irritating matter from trees, grasses, and weeds appears earlier and stays airborne longer — two weeks longer in Europe today than vs. the 1990s, in fact. Pass the tissues!

Let’s end on a cute note: A dog – Chewbacca, a Newfoundland nicknamed Chewy – went viral for helping his 96-year-old grandmother Barbara Collins in her North Carolina garden. In Star Wars, Han Solo’s wingman Chewy was so-so at following orders, but this big fuzzy guy works on command. When Collins points her cane at a spot in the garden, Chewy steps up and digs a hole, then Grandma pops in a plant. The force is strong with these two.