Alders. They are straggly, ugly and invasive …but they do good work. First, for the bees: Alders are mostly wind pollinated, but they generously offer pollen for insects. The male and female flowers are present on the same bush. The female catkin is like a little brown cone and the male flowers are the traditional dangling catkins, closed in early spring , then opening as the weather warms to reveal brownish yellow pollen on every stamen. Alders do not offer insects a nectar reward, presumably because they are wind pollinated and don’t need insects. But bees do need alders. The large amounts of pollen/protein they provide help honeybees raise their replacements in the spring. Second, for us: alders fix nitrogen and help restore played out ground to productivity and stabilize areas that could erode. The first Google hits are all about getting rid of alders, but if there is no good reason to get rid of them, you’re better to leave them do their thing for us and the bees. Gloomy factoid: survivalists note that alder pollen is plentiful and nourishing …could be a food source at the apocalypse.
