In this week's episode of the Good Growing podcast Ken, Katie, and Chris chat with Illinois Extension horticulture educator Kelly Allsup about pollinators. Their conversation starts with monarch butterflies and community science projects geared toward studying monarchs and all pollinators. Plus your questions:

What seed mix should we plant around our new beehive?

What are some good late-flowering fall plants for migrating monarchs?

Is it possible to have a butterfly garden without bees?

Should I clean up my leaves and yard in the fall? What's the best thing for pollinators?

Community (Citizen) Science projects for pollinators:

Monarch Way Station Project https://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/

University of Minnesota Bee Lawn https://www.beelab.umn.edu/learn-more/beelawn

University of Illinois I-Pollinate https://ipollinate.illinois.edu/

Illinois Extension Pollinator Pockets https://extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/pollinator-pockets

Illinois butterfly monitoring network https://bfly.org/

Monarch larva monitoring project https://monarchjointventure.org/mlmp

Check out the video version at https://youtu.be/VzbCNJFFXZg