Today is UN World Bee Day.  Below are resources for you to learn more about bees and plants for many pollinators, including moths, flies, wasps and hummingbirds.  

To protect yourself and our environment, try to avoid all insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.  Even with compost, avoid products made from chicken manure, soybean, or cotton hulls.  Neonicotinoids, an insecticide contributing to decline in pollinators an be found in nuts, corn, canola,  and wheat, among other crops.  Even your pet may be exposed to neonicotinoids through their flea collars or an oral flea product called Nitenpryam (Capstar).

Here is a link to a list of other pesticides killing pollinators.

https://beyondpesticides.org/programs/bee-protective-pollinators-and-pesticides/chemicals-implicated

Read all labels.  Don’t be tricked by plant feeding products such as Miracle Gro or Bayer’s line of  “all in one” for roses and flowers that may contain restricted or harmful ingredients. 

Before purchasing a product, look up its MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). OSHA requires that a manufacturer, distributor or importer of a hazardous chemical provide an MSDS “for each hazardous chemical to downstream users to communicate information on these hazards.”   https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3514.html

You may have to dig around to find them, but this information must be available for the public to read.

One of the most common reason people spray is aphids.  Ladybugs and bushtits, a little gray bird, love to eat aphids!  So if the aphids are not damaging your plant, be patient and leave this food source alone.  If the aphids start to get out of control, spray them off with water.  Look for other alternatives before using toxic chemicals.

There is still time to plant many flowers, herbs and crops.  Purchase organic seeds from companies such as Sow True Seeds, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Wild Garden Seeds, Wood Prairie Farm, High Desert Seed and Garden, and Adaptive Seeds.  Plant for life!

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UN World Bee Day

https://www.un.org/en/events/beeday/

Links to resources for NM bees and pollinator plants:

Pocket Guide to the Native Bees of New Mexico

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/nmpmcbr10942.pdf

“The Bees in Your Backyard: A Field Guide to North America’s Bees,”  by Joseph Wilson and Olivia Carril (from New Mexico).

https://www.beesinyourbackyard.com/about-us

New Mexico Pollinator Plants

Annual      *Perennials grown as annuals

Alyssum

Asters

Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia *

Borage

California poppy (Eschscholzia californica)*

Cosmos

Lupine (Lupinus sp)

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

Wallflower (Erysimum sp)

Wild mustards and lettuce

            (let bloom then pick before it goes to seed)

Zinnia (Zinnia sp)

Bulbs

Daffodils

Grape hyacinth

Irises

Native or Drought Tolerant  Perennial Flowers

Asters   (Aster sp.)

Bee Balm (Monarda didyma)

Catnip (Nepeta cataria)

Columbine (needs moist area)

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Giant hyssop agastache (foeniculum, rugosum)

Globe thistle (Echinops)

Goldenrod (Solidago sp)

Hollyhocks (Single petal – Alcea rosea)

Hyssop (Hyssopus officinale)

Jupiter’s beard

Lamb’s ear (Stachys)

Maximillian Sunflower (Maximillian Helianthus)

Milkweed (Asclepias sp)

Penstemons

Sage (Salvia)

Scorpion-weed (Phacelia)

Stonecrop (Sedum sp)

Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans)

Yarrow (Achillea sp)

Bushes and Shrubs

Fruit bearing:

Blackberries (Rubus), Cherry, Currant (Ribes sp), Raspberry, Nanking Cherry

Pomegranate, Quince

Three Leaf Sumac (Rhus trilobata)

Creosote bush (Larrea sp)

Honeysuckle (Lonicera sp)

Oregon grape (Berberis)

Rabbit-brush (Chrysothamnus)

Roses (Single petal, rugosas)

Serviceberry (Shepherdia sp)

Snowberry (Symphoricarpos sp)

Lilacs

Winter Jasmine

Wild buckwheat (Eriogonum sp)

Wolfberry (Symphoricarpos occidentalis)

Trees

Fruit bearing:  Apple, Apricot, Cherry, Chokecherry, CrabappleFig, Jujube, Medlar, Mulberry (female is not pollen-bearing), Peach, Pomegranate, Quince

Catalpa (Catalpa sp.) 

Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus)

Elder (Sambucus sp)

Hawthorn (Crataegus)

Locust, NM Locust (Robinia neomexicana)

Maple

Honey Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) 

Wild-lilac (Ceanothus)

Willow (Salix sp),  Desert Willow (Chilopsis)

Perennial Herbs

Comfrey (needs moist area)

Fennels

Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum)

Lavender  (Lavandula sp)

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

Horehound (Marrrubium vulgare)

Mint (Mentha sp)/Peppermint (M. piperita)

Oregano (Origanum vulgare)

Rosemary  (Rosmarinus officinalis)

Sage (Salvia officinalis)

Stinging Nettles (Urtica Dioica)

Thyme (Thymus sp)

Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum verticilatum)

Winter Savory

Wild marjoram

Annual Herbs

Arugula, Basil (Ocimum), Borage,Dill, Marigolds, Marjoram

Cover Crops

Alfalfa, Beans/Fava, Buckwheat, Clover, Hairy Vetch, Sanfoin

Umbileferous

Annual:  Chervil – Cilantro – Dill

Biennials    (*Let them over winter and bloom the next spring; among the best insectary plants.)

Angelica – Carrot – Celery – Parsley – Parsnips,

Annual Crops (use non-hybrid, patented varieties)

Radish, Melons, Mustards, Squash, Tomatoes