
Sara Fraser
Former Campaign Associate, Environment Colorado
We spoke with local garden shop owners to get recommendations for bee-friendly flowers and ways to avoid using pesticides to keep your gardens healthy. We also highlighted a new law that will limit bee-killing neonics in Colorado starting in July.
Former Campaign Associate, Environment Colorado
It’s gardening season, so I organized a webinar with garden shop owners Brad Kuhn from Finding Nectar and Caitlin McDonough from Soco Organics to talk about different bee-friendly plants we can add to our Colorado gardens this spring.
But I learned so much more. Did you know:
You can watch the full webinar or read below for the many tips that came up.
We rely a lot on bees.
Bees are crucial for our ecosystems and food systems. They are responsible for one in every three bites of food we eat including apples, almonds, avocados, blueberries, coffee, potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes.
Even famous Colorado products like palisade peaches and rocky ford melons are pollinated by bees.
And we’ve got a lot of them. Colorado is home to 946 native bee species
We need bees, but their populations are shrinking. Studies have found the western bumble bee has declined 72% in parts of our state.
This bee decline can be attributed to several factors, including pesticide use, global climate change, and loss of habitat.
Backyard gardens are extremely important in the effort to save these bees because they can create diverse habitats and food sources for pollinators – bees don’t like monoculture areas.
Every community matters and even downtown Denver has at least 150 different bee species, so what you plant matters.Brad Kuhn
Finding Nectar
We also should look for pesticide-free plants and limit the pesticides we apply on our plants.
One critical pesticide we need to avoid – neonics.
Neonics, or neonicotinoids, are one of the most harmful pesticides that affect pollinators. Neonics are:
The good news – this July, a bill is going into effect that will remove neonics from retail stores, where most of us buy our plants. This should reduce the amount of neonics used in our urban gardens, which is hugely beneficial for bees because our urban gardens are increasingly home to some great, diverse bee and pollinator habitat.
We’ve got you covered.
Our panelists work at plant shops in Denver, CO and Pueblo, CO. When it comes to supporting bees and other pollinators, they recommend the following pollinator-friendly plants.
Here’s a hint: don’t cut the flowers off of your mint plants, the bees love these
Goldenrod (solidago)
Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)Photo by Steve Chilton | CC-BY-2.0
Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)Photo by Peganum | CC-BY-SA-2.0
Moonbeam (Coreopsis verticillata)
Moonbeam (Coreopsis verticillata)Photo by David Stang | CC-BY-2.0
Both panelists talked about this method of planting different plants close to one another. Companion planting can help:
We need to change our mentality of what is beautiful in nature because a perfectly manicured garden won’t facilitate pollinators.Caitlin McDonough
Soco Organics
Our panelists emphasized beneficial bugs are a natural, easy option for defending against harmful bugs in our gardens.
To protect your bee-friendly plants, try these alternative methods to pesticides:
One thing our panelists explained that stuck with me – take into account all of the ways plants work together:
If you’re looking for an easy way to start your garden, we have pollinator garden kits for sale on our website here.
Photo by Staff | TPIN
Former Campaign Associate, Environment Colorado