The Pollinator Post is a photo journal created by May Chen, a local naturalist. It started many years ago, as simple e-mails sharing the excitement of discovery with fellow hikers and gardeners. The burgeoning readership eventually necessitated the creation of the Google Group, the Native Gardeners three years ago. Now the journal has found a permanent home at our website, with easy access to all. Let May guide you through the miniature world of the creepy crawlies, regaling you with the drama that is happening right under our noses. Enjoy!
May likes to describe herself as a career volunteer. She has been a docent at Martin Griffin Preserve in West Marin for more than 20 years. Her passion for plants and insects has led her naturally to the study of pollination biology. She has taught docent-training classes on pollination at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden. As a volunteer with the Friends of Sausal Creek, May has helped in the native plant nursery and tended the BridgeView Pollinator Garden. She enjoys exploring the East Bay parks and gardens, and shares her observations on the Pollinator Post.
Because of her initial focus on pollinators, especially bees, May has titled her missives “Pollinator Post”. However, over the years of observation, she realized that we should view the botanical world as an interconnected whole that embraces other plant-insect interactions that are often overlooked – e.g. predator/prey, decomposer/recyclers, host/parasites, each contributing to the health and stability of the collective. Too often we are quick to judge insects as “good” or “bad”, ignoring their true roles in the ecosystem. We need to understand these relationships if we were to be good stewards of our gardens, our farms and wild lands.
To see more of May’s work, see the following article and videos:
The Buzz in My Garden by May Chen, originally published in the Regional Parks Botanic Garden quarterly newsletter Manzanita in 2018
Life and Death on Milkweed
Life and Death on Silverleaf Lupine
