ArtPlantae Today

Each year the Pollinator Partnership hosts Pollinator Week, a weeklong event highlighting the “birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, and other small mammals that pollinate plants (and) are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food” (Pollinator Partnership). The Pollinator Partnership has been an advocate for pollinator awareness since 1996.

Although Pollinator Week is held in June each year, pollinator awareness and education is important year-round. If you live in southern California, here is an opportunity to learn about pollinators during the upcoming winter break.

This past weekend, a new exhibition about California pollinators opened at the Orange County Agricultural and Nikkei Heritage Museum at the Fullerton Arboretum in southern California. Pollinators: Keeping Company with Flowers is a traveling exhibition featuring educational displays about:

• Pollination and Fertilization
• Flowers & Their Pollinators
• Mimicry in Pollinators
• Bees & Wasps
• Butterflies & Moths
• Beetles
• Flies
• Observing Pollinators

Unlike exhibitions that take a purely scientific look at plants and pollinators, the current exhibition includes an artistic perspective on these topics by featuring the photography of plantsman and photographer, John Whittlesey, and the watercolor paintings of students in the Art department at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). Whittlesey’s photographs of pollinators in wild and garden settings are at the heart of the exhibition. The paintings by CSUF students complement his photos and introduce visitors to some of the plants and landscape scenes they will discover as they explore the peaceful 26-acre arboretum.

When planning a visit to the Fullerton Arboretum to view Pollinators: Keeping Company with Flowers, consider participating in one or more of the learning opportunities offered during the exhibition. These opportunities to learn about native plants, nature photography and insects come just in time for springtime studies in your classroom or programs:

• Native Edible Plants in Your Garden (Nov. 8)
• California Native Habitat Plant Sale (Nov. 15-16)
• Nature Photography: How to Take Better Photos (Nov. 16)
• Butterfly Gardening with The Butterfly Lady (Nov. 16)
• Children’s Bug Safari (Nov. 16)
• Pollination Ecology for Young Naturalists (Dec. 6; age 12+)
• Pollination Ecology for Young Naturalists (Dec. 11; age 3-5 with adult)

Literature Cited

Pollinator Partnership (2014). Retrieved from http://www.pollinator.org.

Also See…

Natural Science Illustrators Promote Pollinator Awareness

• Valerie Littlewood Illustrates Pollinators & Plants
• Mindy Lighthipe takes plant-pollinator interactions to the suburbs