Pollinator Practices - Best Bed & Breakfast Examples: Part Two

“Our B&B owners are serious about serving as an example of how to tend to the health of the state’s ecosystems, and the Earth Day anniversary coupled with Arbor Day was all the spark they needed to make the pollinator program official,” said Kerri Thiel, executive director of the WBBA.

 

Westphal Mansion Inn B&B, Hartford

The backdrop for the native plants here is a 1913 English Tudor mansion perched on a terraced triangular hill overlooking the city’s historic downtown district. Vintage bird baths are tucked into the garden and provide a welcome splash. The fruit from mature cherry and apple trees as well as grape vines is all harvested and turned into homemade jams and pies.

 

Apple Tree Lane B&B, Waupaca

The white picket-fenced garden at this historic country inn brims with flowers that birds, butterflies and bees find irresistible. Elsewhere on the grounds fruit trees bloom in the spring, followed by a colorful variety of native flowers continuing well into fall. Visitors will often stroll the Crystal River frontage here where a wide variety of native flowers and grasses blanket the ground.

 

White Lace Inn, Sturgeon Bay

Get an up-close look at the flowers, relax in the gazebo and enjoy the view to the fishpond on the grounds of this Door County property. Garden pathways connect each of the four turn-of-the-century homes that make up inn. 

 

Willow Pond Bed, Breakfast & Events, Weyauwega

This 1901 farmhouse situated on 12 acres is a pollinator’s paradise, with flowers blooming spring, summer and fall. Every year the owners try to add a new garden and this year’s endeavor will include a gazebo surrounded by flowers and pathways. Several ponds on the grounds attract birds and frogs.

 

The Buckingham Inn, Madison

The owners of this urban inn make the most of their city-sized lot by planting the perimeter with coneflower, astilbe, daylily and other flowering perennials to keep pollinators active. Butterflies are a common welcomed sight in the back yard.

 

Miller's Daughter B&B, Green Lake

Providing flowers for pollinators across all three warm-weather seasons was the strategy behind the gardens at this B&B. The innkeepers use homemade pest controls to make the gardens safe for visiting bees and butterflies.

 

Honeybee Inn, Horicon

Along with tending to lots of flowering plants, hanging baskets and potted flowers, the owner is trying her luck this summer with a bee hotel and a flow hive.

 

Franklin Street B&B, Appleton

The innkeepers here were strategic in planting natives that would bloom in waves, starting with columbine and allium, followed by cone flowers and sedum, culminating with black-eyed Susans and asters.

Pollinating Good Ideas is a practice that many of our member inns have been doing for quite a while, and is something that can be started in your very own back yard. What do you do for your pollinator practices? Feel free to share with us on Facebook!

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