Spring is here, and along with pollen comes the pollinators; Pennsylvania is home to 437 native bee species, and diverse plants in your garden can help their populations thrive. 

Dave Harrod, head of the Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild’s board, told the Local native bee populations include specialist and generalist pollinators. Specialist pollinators evolved to pollinate one or a limited number of plants. Generalist pollinators, like the nonnative honey bee, can pollinate a wider variety of plants. 

“The problem with nonnative plants is some of them are invasive, like Japanese knotweed, a decorative plant, but it is terribly invasive, and it takes over landscapes, and it forces out the native plants,” Harrod said. “It becomes less hospitable to these specialized pollinators. Now, it's great for the generalists, it's great for the bumblebees, it's great for all of the native generalists, but the problem is that you reduce the nutritional sources for these specialized guys.” 

In the fall, the Guild holds a yearly Honey Festival in Germantown, celebrating honeybees. However, these and other nonnative bees are more adaptable. In an ever-changing environment, the native specialists could use a helping hand. Planting a diverse range of native plants in your garden, yard, windowsill, or porch can help both specialist and generalist pollinators Harrod said.

“We don't want to lose any of the species. We don't want to lose diversity,” Harrod said. “Having a lot of different bees that have different activities and behaviors is beneficial to everybody.” 

How to help the bees

Ryan Drake, McCausland Natural Areas Manager at Morris Arboretum & Gardens, works with native plants and told the Local, “planting for diversity is one of the biggest things we can do to garden for pollinators.” 

“That means really planting things that are going to be in bloom from early March all the way into November,” Drake added. “Understanding that bees have specific relationships with plants is just another reason to plant as much diversity as we can.” 

Among the many native plant species and pollinators found at the arboretum, Drake said its horticulturists plant Hibiscus moscheutos, or swamp hibiscus, in the arboretum’s wetlands for one specific bee species, Ptilothrix bombiformis. Drake used this as an example of how specialized one bee species can be. 

“Asteraceae plants are an excellent choice, especially for the gardens. The Aster family of plants includes things like asters, but also our goldenrods,” Drake added. “They're really excellent late-season floral resources for bees, and also because of the flower shape, it's much more open than like a tubular flower, so that flower shape is attractive to a great diversity of bees as well.” 

Drake recommends Penn State’s Master Gardener program as a resource for those looking to add a diverse range of native plants to their yard. Their “Center for Pollinator Research” site has a long list of native plant species in Pennsylvania. 

A few examples of currently blooming perennials the site lists are: wild ginger, blue wild indigo, alumroot, dwarf crested iris and wild geranium, and more. 

For later blooming perennials, the site recommends: butterfly weed, white wood aster, New England aster, tall coreopsis, great blue lobelia and showy goldenrod among several others. 

The site also contains resources on how to plant and take care of your garden, along with a list of tips like “Choose flowers with a range of shapes and colors,” and “Don't forget trees and shrubs.” 

Drake said it’s tough to narrow down a recommendation to just a handful of native plants because, “There's so many good ones.”

“A lot of those goldenrods for that late season are definitely my first go-to and probably the first on my plant list when I'm designing gardens,” Drake said. “Joe-Pye weeds later in the summer months are a really good pollinator resource … another really important early forage for a lot of native bees is willows. So planting our native willows for that early season, but also structure in the garden is usually first on my list of plants when I'm designing gardens.” 

Other resources and recommendations

The Morris Arboretum offers several classes this summer on caring for gardens, nature, and native species. Drake recommends keeping an eye on the Arboretum’s website, morrisarboretum.org, for upcoming classes and certification courses. 

Penn State’s Master Gardener program can be found at extension.psu.edu/programs/master-gardener, for a longer list of native plant species. 

For lawn certifications, Drake recommends finding the “Lawn Conversion Program” form on PA.gov for residents to convert their yards into a meadow or woods. 

Drake advocates for leaving fallen leaves in your yard during the fall to help some of the pollinator species, like moths, who nest in the ground. 

He added, “Thinking about an organic approach, and maybe avoiding using pesticides on our lawns, is a good way to promote pollinators in the garden.”