Specialist Bees!

As you start making selections for fall planting, are you also considering the pollinators you may be inviting to your garden party? We’d all love to get an RSVP from the VIP list— hummingbirds, butterflies, and goldfinches definitely know how to make an entrance—but there are some important, less flashy guests called specialist bees that may not be on your official guest list.

Specialist bees are solitary, usually very small, and prefer/depend on pollen from a select group, or in some cases, a single species of plant to feed and raise their young. Here are some plants that attract these unique pollinators, featured in our pollinator garden packages, available for preorder until September 12.

So let’s check that list again, bee bouncer!

🐝1. Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) +1: Golden alexander mining bee (Andrena ziziae). Entomologists named this bee after its host plant twice. Keep an eye out for its fuzzy white pollen pants.

🐝2. Rose mallow +1: rose mallow bee (ptilothrix bombiformis). Whether you’ve got the halberd leaved or scarlet rose mallow in your gardens this year, this conveniently named bumblebee doppelgänger just might sneak in.

🐝3. Scarlet bee balm (Monarda didyma) Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) +1: Bee balm short faced bee (diphourea monardae). This rare guest may not prefer to answer to its common name, but we’re still letting it skip the line.

🐝4. Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum) +1: Green sweat bees (augochlora pura) Culver’s roots plus ones might have plus ones but these perspiration loving, metallic green jumpsuit wearing bees are sure to make a fun time.

It turns out your plants invited some pretty phenomenal guests with a specific taste for your kind of party!