Nursery Directory and Bee Friendly Plant List This is the answer to a question I had from the audience last night: Q: What native plants should I put in my yard that can withstand our hotter summers, and provide a high level of pollen and nectar for the pollinators? 1. Echinacea 2. Black-eyed Susan 3. Aster 4. Lupine 5. Alpine columbine (more…)
Web links from the Pollinator Presentation, October 2024Penny Longwell, WSU Thurston County Master Gardener For more of what WSU is doing: https://bees.wsu.edu/Article link about Alkali bees. https://www.honeybeesuite.com/alkali-bees-face-death-by-highway/ WSU and alfalfa growers set aside a large area (120acres) for the Alkali Bee. The location is in the Touchet valley of easternWashington. Mason Bee Resources: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2016/05/12/usda-releases-results-new-survey-honey-bee-colony-health Native (more…)
We are launching a Discussion Group for member and non-members to be able to ask questions and discuss beekeeping. The platform we are using is Google Groups. We believe it is fairly simply to use, and works something like a List Serve. If you do not know what that is, it is simply a way (more…)
Want to grow plants to help our local bees? One of our members happens to also be a Master Gardener! The local chapter is the Master Garener Foundation of Thurston County. She shared this list of links with us. The links below provide lots of information on what to plant for pollinators in our area. (more…)
Early Summer Bee Flowers Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida, perennial): An elegant beauty with fine, drooping petals, the pale purple coneflower is a bee favorite that also produces seeds much loved by finches. A native of grasslands and savannahs across the Eastern United States, this tough coneflower will bloom for up to three weeks from June to (more…)
