What You'll Learn Inside Pollinator Café

A short course with a big impact—for your garden, your confidence, and the planet.

Here’s a peek at what’s waiting for you inside the course:

Lesson 1: Why Pollinators Matter

• Discover the ecological crisis hiding in plain sight—and how your backyard can be part of the solution.
• What 95% of U.S. land has to do with biodiversity collapse—and what you can do about it
• Why extinction takes time—and how your yard can stop it
• How to find your personal reason for pollinator gardening—and why it makes everything easier

🌸 Lesson 2: What Is Pollination?

• A simple, eye-opening explanation of how pollination works—and why it matters more than ever.
• The process that keeps 80% of flowering plants alive—and how your garden supports it
• Why bees aren’t doing charity work—and what they’re really after
• How much of your food depends on pollinators (hint: it’s more than you think)

🐝 Lesson 3: Pollinator Diversity

• Go beyond honeybees—meet the full cast of winged (and surprising) allies your garden can support.
• Why native bees are the real heroes of your garden
• The pollinators no one talks about—from bats to beetles to parasitic wasps
• What you miss when you only plant for butterflies

🦋 Lesson 4: Why Butterfly Bush Isn’t Enough

• The hard truth about popular pollinator plants—and how to avoid well-meaning mistakes.
• The plant that might be hurting pollinators more than it helps
• What nurseries won’t tell you about neonicotinoids
• Three reasons “pretty” plants might be starving your pollinators

🏛️ Lesson 5: The 3 Pillars of Pollinator Gardening

• Your foundation for success—simple principles that work in any yard, any climate.
• Why even “natural” sprays can harm pollinators
• How native plants feed up to 500x more species than exotics
• The invisible danger of lawns—and how complexity saves pollinators

🍽️ Lesson 6: Planning Your Menu

• Design a garden that meets all of a pollinator’s needs—from food to nesting to overwintering.
• How choosing just one pollinator can unlock your entire plan
• The four essential things every pollinator needs (and how to provide them)
• Why a tidy fall cleanup could destroy next year’s butterflies

🌼 Lesson 7: Selecting and Planting

• Pull it all together with clear, confidence-boosting guidance on what to plant, where, and when.
• What blocks of color tell pollinators (and why scattered flowers don’t work)
• The two best times to plant—and what to do if you missed them
• Why local plants aren’t just smarter—they’re more ethical