by Tianna G. Hansen
While bees often get a bad ‘buzz’ around town, they are vital to our ecosystem and keep our plants and flowers pollinated and healthy! Without them, we would be without much of our beloved fruits, vegetables and flowers.
Not to mention the beautiful flowers you will enjoy in springtime – many of these are all due to the hard work of natural pollinators, bees among the most vital. Native plants supply the best nectar for bees, and also attract beautiful butterflies, moths and hummingbirds.
Bees need our help to be protected from sun, heat, rain and predators. They are also facing difficulties with parasites, diseases, pesticides and loss of habitat.
You can help provide a place for bees to thrive! Growing leafy plants can offer them protection in your garden. It’s also a great idea to let part of your lawn grow wild for ground-nesting bees.
Consider placing artificial nesting boxes or “bee hotels” in your yard to encourage bees to visit. Mason bees love a good muddy area!
Keeping a shallow dish of water, a fountain, water garden or birdbath in your garden area is also a great way to encourage bees, offering them a small oasis where they can sip water.
Bees love flowers that are purple, yellow and blue. Some plants with these color flowers are cone flower, butterfly weed, poppies, lilies, daisies, zinnias, lavender, mint and oregano.
You may not realize it, but you’ll get more native bees than honeybees visiting your garden – and they are more attracted to native plants and flowers.
Don’t be afraid of natural pollinators; they are here to help your garden grow and flourish, and will thank you in abundance with beautiful flowers (and foods for home gardeners).
It’s a great idea to also stagger the plants you grow throughout the season, so something will be blooming throughout the growing season, from early spring to late fall.
Bee proactive in encouraging and protecting our native pollinators!