Landscaping Tips for Native Bees Inland Northwest / Spokane Region

A blue-eyed Anthophora bee nectars on Snow buckwheat, Erioganum niveum, which has bunches of white to pinkish blooms in late summer and fall. It provides nectar and pollen for late season bees and other pollinators.

Diane Benson is a part-time self-employed garden consultant and sustainable landscaping educator from Spokane. She allowed us to share her article about some of her favorite plants for northeastern Washington, but most will work across the eastern side of the state as well as neighboring Oregon and Idaho.

Fall is almost here again, which means planting season. Now is the best time to act on creating that pollinator garden! If you have hopes of attracting some of the Spokane region's hundreds of colorful native bee species, butterflies and birds, here are some tips to get you started.

(1) Grow Native Plants

Grow plants that are native to your area, because they provide the abundant, high-quality pollen and nectar that native bees need to survive and raise their young.

Most of the plants sold in garden centers are not native. They come from other parts of the world, so our native bees and other insects are not adapted to them. Or, the plants have been hybridized to appeal to humans, not to support insects. Our native bees are often unable to get the nutrients they need from non-native and hybridized plants.

Here are 10 great plants for supporting native bees in the Spokane region. All of them grow well in rural, suburban or urban yards, and need minimal care.

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  Photos: iNaturalist.org

(2) Avoid Pesticides

When you use pesticides or allow a pesticide company to spray your yard, you are killing native bees, butterflies, ladybugs and other beneficial insects as well as pests. Instead of spraying pesticides, you can remove aphids and other garden pests with a hose. Just spray them with water. Don’t use dish soap or other chemicals, which can harm plants and animals. Or, pick the pests off your plants by hand. 

A shiny green Small Carpenter bee male, investigates the stem nest of a female. Ceratina spp. require plants with pithy stems such as raspberries and elderberries for building their nests.

(3) Provide Nest Sites and Shelter

Native bees need places to raise their young and places to shelter in cold weather. Some native bees nest underground or inside hollow plant stems, once the plants have died back. Others nest in old beetle holes in logs and stumps. Some seek shelter from the cold under fallen leaves. Leave fallen leaves in garden beds (unless your area is prone to wildfires). Leave logs and stumps in your yard. In other words, provide shelter for native bees by leaving your yard a little messy.

What are native plants?

Native plants grow naturally in a particular region, without human introduction, and co-evolved with other plants, animals, fungi and microbes of that region.

Penstemon acuminatus blooms this beautiful blue in May. Penstemons come in a variety of colors and tolerate dry conditions.

Where to Buy

In the Spokane area, there are several nurseries that specialize in or carry some native plants, including Plants of the Wild, Desert Jewels, Floralia and Blue Moon.

This wasp, Steniolia elegans, nectars on Salvia dorrii in order to fuel up and hunt for prey. Wasps are incidental pollinators and important providers of natural pest management. Purple sage is intensely fragrant and works very well in dry areas once established.

Wildlife Benefits

These plants will provide abundant, high-quality pollen and nectar for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Some of them also provide fruit and seeds for birds or host sites for butterfly reproduction.

To support pollinators, grow a variety of native plants, so there is something blooming throughout the growing season. Aster and Goldenrod are great choices because they bloom in summer and fall, when other flowers have stopped blooming. They provide food for bumble bee queens that are getting ready for winter.

Finishing Touches

After planting, spread wood chips, bark mulch or compost around the plants

(3” deep) to retain moisture in the soil and to suppress weeds. Don’t allow wood chips, mulch or compost to touch the trunks of trees and shrubs, as that can cause trunks to rot.

Serviceberries are handsome upright shrubs that flower in spring. The edible berries attract birds such as waxwings later in the summer and have beautiful yellow leaves in fall.

Maintenance

These plants are water-wise, but even water-wise plants need extra water during the first year or two after planting, especially during hot weather, until their roots become established.

Native plants don’t need pesticides or fertilizers.

Forbs/perennials will die back to the ground in fall and they’ll regrow each spring.

To maintain the shrubs, just remove dead or wayward branches. Otherwise, allow the shrubs to achieve their natural size and shape.

More Info

• Bee-Friendly Gardening on Facebook

• Washington Native Bee Society website

• Washington Native Plant Society website, Northeast Region chapter

• Xerces Society website

• Doug Tallamy’s book: Nature’s Best Hope