Summer in Indiana is an amazing time; each and every spring, the snow recedes typically by late April/early May and makes way for gorgeous, bright green grasses, wildflowers, and more. Of course, this is more than just pretty; Indiana's native pollinators thrive on certain plants and flowers more than others, and there are a few ways that we, as humans with opposable thumbs, can help out. So, what's the scoop? How do we do it? It's easier than you think!

So, you might be wondering, what kind of plants are native to Indiana?

The good news is: MANY. We have literally hundreds of species of flowers and other plants, trees, and shrubberies that belong here and have always belonged here. So, what is there to do with this information? Easy: make your yard a pollinator's paradise.

One of the best ways to do this, at least in my opinion, is by planting as many flowers as you can. Flowers! Flowers everywhere!

Time your planting just right and enjoy not just an explosion of color in your yard(s), but also an explosion of ridiculously important critters every spring and summer.

Common native flowers found here in Indiana that make for an amazing yard display are flowers like the coneflower, milkweed, goldenrod, columbines (my favorite), aster, sunflowers, and SO much more.

With a seemingly endless number of combinations one could dream up, you could have both the best-looking yard to the neighborhood and the best-looking yard to pollinators, too!

So, when I say "pollinators", what kind of critters am I talking about? It's more than just the bees (though bees are definitely a very important member of the family here)!

I'm talking about all sorts of intriguing little guys, like butterflies, moths (which, let's be real here, are just goth butterflies- pollinators of the night!), birds, wasps, and even flies!

A few things you can do other than planting to help out our native pollinators are things like "being lazy" and not mowing the lawn and/or picking up leaves as often as we typically do.

As good as a well-manicured lawn looks, it's no good for mother nature - she (and her birds, bees, wasps and hummingbirds) prefers a somewhat wild yard to do what they do, with dandelions and grasses allowed to grow as they do naturally. The existence of HOAs and other block watches often prevents us from doing this, but perhaps this should be rethought.

Removing invasive plants is another big must-do, as these tend to quickly overtake native plants thanks to aggressive reproduction and resource pirating, so to speak.

I guess the main point is this: we spend so much time making our yards inhospitable for some of the most important creatures in our ecosystem, when we truly should be doing the opposite. It's up to us to make our properties a place where these little guys can do as they do with ease and, in the best cases, thrive.

Want to know what's best to plant for which critters? Check out this super handy native pollinators chart thanks to Indiana's very own Purdue University. Planning to go camping or hiking out among the pollinators this summer? Check out all the cool accessories from our friends at Backcountry.

Do you have a favorite pollinator out there? What do you do to make your yard attractive to them? Tell me about them in the comments.