Northeast Gardening: Pollinators & others, 0 by nedweenie

nedweenie wrote:
I decided that I'd be bold and start a thread. So help me out here!

Have you noticed what plants are pollinated by which bug? I touched on this topic briefly on another thread about the hated hornworms. And I can understand some people's hatred, they are destructive little beasts, but I'm also a moth & butterfly fan, so caterpillars don't rile me that much. And I'm all for the night pollinators. They don't get enough press, as far as I'm concerned.

That said, one thing that drives me crazy in the garden books, and even with online sources, is that rarely does an entry about a particular plant mention its pollinators. I grew some celosia flamingo feathers once, and discovered that it attracted these huge black wasps. Which was ok, but I found myself constantly dodging them and got a little freaked out in the process. At the end of the season, I decided that I was done with that plant! Another wasp attractor was the Asclepias curassavica, the annual milk weed. Those wasps were even bigger, with bold orange abdomens. Eryngium (sea hollies) are pollinated by flies, and the bloom, if you stick your nose up close, is rather unpleasant. Bleah!

On the good side, I discovered that Eupatorium coelestinum, the perrenial argeratum, is pollinated by the 8 Spotted Forester moth, and the Grape Leaf Skeletonizer moth, both of which are delightful to see. The Sketetonizer looks like a firefly!

So, have you noticed a plant that attracts a particular pollinator? Good or bad?