Pollinators in the Garden

Last week we attended a workshop put on by the California Center for Urban Horticulture on Gardening for Pollinators. A full morning of talks followed by a trip to the Honey Bee Haven, followed by a trip to the Arboretum Plant Sale (for the record, we bought a manzanita, three Spanish lavenders, a giant buckwheat and an ericameria). All but the lavenders should grow into large shrubs that qualify as four feet, and the lavenders should end up filling that slot.

I’ve written a blog post for the ANR Green Blog that provides more background, but here are the big take-homes for me from the workshop…

• Planning for succession blooming (in the Central Valley, that means late winter through fall)
• Putting plants in clumps at least 4 feet long if possible (honeybees, especially, like to specialize)
• Putting in plants that provide both nectar and pollen (nectar is fuel for adult bees, pollen is protein for the young)
• Using native plants where possible; they’re drought tolerant and have what our native bees need
• Avoiding most-toxic pesticides and herbicides
• Providing a clean source of water (a slow-dripping tap on a sloped surface is ideal; bees like to drink from very shallow sources)
• Providing cavity nest holes in wood for carpenter and other bees
• Leaving some areas of gardens unmulched for ground-nesting bees