Pollinator Month Kickoff: Easy Ways to Help Bees in Your Backyard

🐝 Kicking Off Pollinator Month with Bee-Friendly Native Plants – Part 1: For Beginners

Welcome to Pollinator Month! As we celebrate our essential, buzzing friends this June, it's the perfect time to turn our attention to how we can help support bees, butterflies, and other pollinators in our own backyards. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just getting started, planting native, pollinator-friendly plants is one of the most impactful actions you can take.

Let’s start with the basics for beginners:

🌼 Bee-Friendly Native Plants You’ll Love

🌸 Perennial Asters (Stokesia & Woods varieties)These beautiful, heat-loving, drought-tolerant natives are perfect for gardeners in zones 5–9. They bloom through fall, pairing beautifully with seasonal favorites like mums and ornamental grasses. Just be careful not to confuse them with Annual Asters, which bloom in early fall and have a shorter life span.

🌺 Bee Balm (Monarda spp.)A true pollinator magnet, Bee Balm thrives in zones 3–9 and adapts to various soil types. It loves full sun, but make sure to plant it with good airflow to reduce the risk of powdery mildew. Its colorful, spiky blooms are a favorite of bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies alike.

🌿 Coneflower / EchinaceaHardy in zones 3–9, coneflowers are one of the easiest perennials to grow. They’re drought-tolerant, sun-loving, and come in a rainbow of colors. This is a must-have for any pollinator garden and a great choice for first-time gardeners.

🌼 Coreopsis / TickseedCoreopsis brings a classic wildflower look to your garden, blooming all summer and fall. It's incredibly easy to grow and keeps its fresh appearance even during the hottest days. Hardy in zones 4–9, it's a resilient, low-maintenance option for any garden.

💜 Mealy Cup Salvia (Salvia farinacea)A North American native, Mealy Cup Salvia is tough and tolerant of extreme heat—plus, pollinators adore it. Salvia varieties come in many colors and sizes, and are hardy in zones 3–9. They're a beautiful way to attract bees and butterflies throughout the growing season.

🌸 Mix of Plants = Happy Bugs

Provide a range of flower shapes, sizes, and bloom times to support a variety of pollinators all season long. Native plants are especially beneficial because they've co-evolved with local insects and provide the most nutritional value

Video Here!

🛠️ More Than Just Flowers: Helping Pollinators Thrive

Supporting pollinators goes beyond planting flowers. Bees, butterflies, and beneficial bugs need a complete habitat to survive.

Here's how you can help:

💧 Provide Water

Pollinators get thirsty, especially in hot summer months. A homemade bee waterer is a fun and simple DIY project for all ages. Here’s how to make one:

• Use a small flower pot and saucer

• Fill the saucer with rocks

• Add just enough water so the tops of the rocks stay dry (this gives bees a safe landing spot)

• Decorate with acrylic paint if you want to get creative!

Watch Our Tutorial Here!

🏡 Offer Shelter with Bug Hotels

Bug hotels give native solitary bees, ladybugs, and other beneficial insects a safe place to nest. These structures mimic natural hiding spots like hollow stems, wood piles, and leaf litter. You can buy one or make your own using bamboo sticks, wood blocks, straw, and natural materials. Place them in a sheltered, sunny spot away from strong winds and rain.

🧼 Don’t Forget to Clean Your Bug Hotel

To keep your bug hotel safe and healthy for its tiny residents, it's important to clean it out once a year—ideally in early spring before new insects move in. Remove any debris, replace worn-out materials like bamboo or straw, and sanitize reusable parts with a mild bleach solution (1 part bleach to 9 parts water), then rinse and let them dry completely before reassembling. Regular cleaning helps prevent mold, mites, and the spread of disease among beneficial bugs.

Mini Bee Habitat Tutorial

🚫 Skip the Pesticides

One of the most impactful ways to protect pollinators is to avoid using chemical pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides in your garden. These chemicals don’t just target pests—they can also harm or kill beneficial insects like bees, butterflies, and ladybugs. Even "bee-friendly" pesticides can linger on plants and soil, causing long-term damage to pollinator populations. Instead, try natural pest control methods like companion planting, introducing beneficial insects, or using organic sprays when absolutely necessary. Creating a healthy, chemical-free environment ensures that pollinators can forage safely and continue their vital work of pollinating plants and keeping ecosystems in balance.

🌍 Why This Matters

Pollinators like bees play a crucial role in ecosystems and agriculture. In fact, one-third of the food we eat relies on pollinators. Their populations, however, are declining due to habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change. But you can make a difference—right in your own yard!

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we’ll share tips for advanced gardeners looking to create a full-scale pollinator sanctuary. In the meantime, grab your gloves, get planting, and share your bee-friendly garden using #PollinatorMonth 🐝🌼🦋