Government Pavilion, C/ Padre Herrera s/n
P.O. Box 456
38200, San Cristóbal de La Laguna
Santa Cruz de Tenerife - Spain
Switchboard Tel.: (+34) 922 31 90 00
Hours: Mon-Fri, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Although the primary purpose of a garden is to enjoy observing its plants, with the right design it can become a true haven of biodiversity. The presence of flowering plants attracts a community of pollinating insects, which will be all the more diverse the greater the variety of flowers available. Each plant species attracts certain pollinators; some species are more attractive to bees or butterflies, while others are preferred by flies, for example. There are even plants, called super-generalists, whose flowers are visited by a vast array of different insects.
We have planted a wide variety of native and endemic species, as these are best adapted to our climate and native pollinators, after thousands of years of co-evolution. Furthermore, we have avoided using plants from other islands, as they can cause hybridization problems, and we have eliminated most exotic ornamental plants, since these tend to be more attractive to introduced pollinators than to native ones and, in some cases, could even escape and spread in the wild. And it's not just the cultivated plants in the garden that are important; many of the so-called "weeds" that grow spontaneously are also crucial. We have allowed their controlled growth to increase the quantity and diversity of available flowers.
Among the garden plants most attractive to pollinators are species from the Asteraceae or Compositae family, such as the daisy (Argyranthemum frutescens) or the bolt (Sonchus acaulis), and from the Apiaceae or Umbelliferae family, such as giant reed (Ferula linkii), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) or sea lettuce (Astydamia latifolia). The bitter spurge (Euphorbia lamarckii), the rockrose (Cistus monspeliensis), the mountain wallflower (Erysimum virescens) or the matorrisk (Lavandula canariensisAmong the spontaneous garden herbs, thistles are very popular with pollinators (Galactites tomentosus) or sow thistles (Sonchus spp.).
