10 Pollen Plants for Native Bees You Need to Know!

👉👉👉👉 Links to the book Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy:

This video is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something we'll receive a small commission.

The native pollen specialist bees, bees that require the pollen of specific groups of plants, are not often thought about when designing pollinator gardens. These bees are diverse, and their pollen needs vary greatly, but there are certain groups of plants that support the most species of these interesting native bees. By incorporating these plants into your pollinator garden, you can help these specialist bees and at the same time, other pollinators. Many of the plants these specialist bees require for pollen are also incredible caterpillar host plants with some hosting up to 100 species of caterpillars.

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Chapters:
0:00 What are Pollen Specialist Native Bees and What Do They Require?
0:43 Genus Cirsium the Thistles Pollen Specialist Bees Supported and Caterpillars Hosted, Wildlife and Bird Use
1:25 Genus Bidens the Beggarticks Pollen Specialist Bees Supported and Caterpillars Hosted, Wildlife and Bird Use
2:03 Genus Verbesina the Wingstems Pollen Specialist Bees Supported and Caterpillars Hosted, Wildlife and Bird Use
2:47 Genus Chrysopsis the Goldenasters Pollen Specialist Bees Supported and Caterpillars Hosted, Wildlife and Bird Use
3:23 Genus Coreopsis the Tickseeds Pollen Specialist Bees Supported and Caterpillars Hosted, Wildlife and Bird Use
3:58 The Pollen Specialist Ground Nesting Mining Bees and Their Nesting Requirements
4:30 Genus Heterotheca the Camphorweeds Pollen Specialist Bees Supported and Caterpillars Hosted, Wildlife and Bird Use
5:02 Genus Rudbeckia the Susans Pollen Specialist Bees Supported and Caterpillars Hosted, Wildlife and Bird Use
6:06 Genus Grindelia the Gumweeds Pollen Specialist Bees Supported and Caterpillars Hosted, Wildlife and Bird Use and a Warning About the Gumweeds
6:54 Genus Symphyotrichum the Fall Asters Pollen Specialist Bees Supported and Caterpillars Hosted, Wildlife and Bird Use
7:45 Doug Tallamy Bringing Nature Home Must Read Book
8:09 Genus Solidago the Goldenrods Pollen Specialist Bees Supported and Caterpillars Hosted, Wildlife and Bird Use
9:15 Backyard Ecology Resources and Products
9:45 Genus Helianthus the Sunflowers Pollen Specialist Bees Supported and Caterpillars Hosted, Wildlife and Bird Use
10:32 Tying It all Together for a Complete Pollinator Garden

[BackyardEcology]

👉👉👉👉 Links to the book Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy:






This video is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something we'll receive a small commission.

[TheOldMayfieldPlace]

I love sunflowers and plant them in my garden every year. During the summer I see bees all over them and in the fall I leave the flower heads for the birds to eat the seeds. Sunflowers are also the state flower of my home state so I will never be without sunflowers in my garden.

[Jean-eypm]

Another intelligent, fact filled video with beautiful pictures. Thank you for your high standards, each video a learning experience.

[salviabuckwheats]

Excellent video, thank you. I like the pictures of the wildlife, and in particular thank you for showing and discussing benefits of the seeds also. The presentation is clear, moves along, and has of course great pics of the blooms. You have a professional delivery that is too often lacking out there in videos on native plants and backyard ecology, and above all, thank you for the latin names!!

[markthompson]

I love thistles. Maybe it's my Scottish heritage, but I love them even in spite of their thorns. If I could find some that are native to West Virginia, I would totally do that! I've got a lot of wingtips on my property. They are everywhere. I'm glad to hear they are at least native, and that they support a wide variety of insects and birds.

[wudangmtn]

Really enjoying your channel. I am trying to create a permaculture homestead on my property in North Carolina; and attracting beneficial insects is critical in this pursuit. Thank you.

[karenholt]

I can attest to the goldenrod and fall asters. I have some wild places in my yard and the front walkway became one this year as I let it go until I could design it. The fall asters and goldenrod appeared side by side and bloomed consecutively. A friend of mine wouldn't use the walkway because of the bees. 😂 Well, I won't keep the plants there, but I was impressed enough to make sure I leave more wild areas in my yard. BTW, I was also surprised how many bees are on the American holly flowers. Those flowers have a wonderful scent, too. Thanks for the list!

[lauri]

Amazing video!! ❤🐝🐝🦋🐛thank you!! Planting a small butterfly garden to attract more wild life to my area ( south Florida)

[alliehamilton-calhoun]

You are simply amazing. Every time I have a mental 'a ha!' moment regarding my yard and search the good old internet for answers to my question, one of your videos appears. Not kidding.... every time. I wish people weren't so apathetic and had their life priorities in order, you should have a million subscribers. Thank you!

[DShepherd]

I’m up in the northeastern part of the country, north of Albany, NY. I dug out a couple old ugly evergreen shrubs, & planted one Golden Standard Coreopsis tripteris 4 years ago. It has densely filled in the whole area of my 4’x10’ side garden, and is about 6’ tall now. I get all kinds of butterflies & bees now, & the smaller birds like it too, especially in winter & early spring, as I leave the brown stalks up for them to have a place to seek shelter. Now, new greenery is coming up, so I’ll break all the dead stalks off. I have a small yard, and decided on this, bc all my neighbors seemed to have earlier flowering plants. I thought I’d get one that flowers later and longer, to help the pollinators and birds when there’s less available. It’s pretty too. Ends up looking like a tall shrub, although it isn’t. No maintenance either really. Loves the sun. Mine is south facing

[piaonomata]

The gorgeous little Augochlora bees LOVE our Wingstem, and the blooms persist pretty late in our yard (VA), which is a plus. Bumblebees love it too.


We always look forward to our goldenrod blooming and getting covered with lots of different wasp species and ambush bugs!

The plant group I was surprised not to see on the list was mountain mints. Both our narrow-leafed and blunt-toothed mountain mints get mobbed by bees and flies of all sizes, up to and including huge carpenter bees. The Blunt-toothed seems to have a much more extended flowering period, but they're both very popular.

[tylerk.]

I’ve watched a lot, and I must say I think you are the best YouTube creator that focuses on eastern native plants. Top notch content and quality. Thanks. I will be buying a shirt =]

[dankeener]

A couple favorites in our front yard are Ironweed which support the small Ironweed Bumblebee and Evening Primrose supporting the pink Evening Primrose moth. These along with Sunflowers, Clustered Mountain mint, goldenrod and asters keep our garden buzzing with activity. Enjoyed the video!

[jcescolastico]

I love this content. Never know there is a lot beautiful flowers in America. So nice to see them and the amazing pollinators!! Love Bees my favorite insects

[marjorie_rosebud]

This was so helpful and informative! I'll be seeking out some of these native plants for my garden.

[eklectiktoni]

I kept waiting for goldenrods to show up (I forgot it was a top ten, least to most type list 😅). I'm planning my future pollinator garden now. I've settled on Solidago odora as my goldenrod of choice because it's not too tall or weedy and reputedly smells good. 😊
EDIT: I didn't know about Chrysopsis though. I've added them to the short list.

[elainelight]

Deeper dive, please. Thanks, Anthony!

[salviabuckwheats]

QUESTION PLEASE, if you can answer it - how long should I keep all those asters and goldenrods standing over the winter - when are the seeds done and caterpillars or others no longer needing it? It's looking really ratty now in January but wildlife is more important than looks so I don't care if it is being useful - in fact I'll probably get back to thinking it is lovely if that is the case. Thanks for all you do for all us Earthlings!

[Calvin.The.Unfindable]

another great video... sorry not said "hi" for a while. hope you are well. happy new year! 😃

[souljahaden]

I love this channel do you know of any channel similar to yours but for the western half part of the U.S. specifically Colorado