Native Plants need native pollinators… And so do we!
Native plants, adapted to local soils and climates, are the best sources of nectar and pollen for native pollinators. Plants and pollinators have mutually adapted through thousands of years of partnership.
Here are some tips for choosing plants for your garden.
- Choose a variety of plants with overlapping flowering times for foraging throughout the season.
- Bees have good colour vision — that’s why flowers are so colourful! They especially like blue, purple, violet, white and yellow.
- Plant flowers of a single species in clumps about four feet in diameter instead of in scatterings so bees can find them.
- Flowers bred to please the human eye (for things like size and complexity) are sometimes sterile and of little use to pollinators. Native plants or heirloom varieties are best.
- Bee species all have different tongue lengths — adaptations to different flowers, so a variety of flower shapes will benefit a diversity of bees.
- Avoid using pesticides.
Native Forbs for Native Pollinators in the Columbia Basin
Native Shrubs for Native Pollinators in the Columbia Basin
