Building a pollinator garden in Utah — print version.
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SUS Farms · Utah Gardening
Building a pollinator garden in Utah
design · beginner · ~6 min read
Honeybees get the press, but native bees do the heavy pollinating in Utah. There are 1,100+ native bee species in our state — most are solitary, ground-nesting, and active for just 4–6 weeks. A real pollinator garden plants for THEM, not just the marketing image of a domesticated honeybee on a sunflower.
Bloom calendar — March through October
Aim for at least 3 plant species blooming every week from March 15 to October 15. Early: crocus, hellebore, pulmonaria. Mid-spring: serviceberry, currants, spring bulbs. Summer: lavender, salvia, agastache, milkweed. Fall: asters, goldenrod, sedum. Gaps in the bloom calendar are when colonies starve.
Plant for native bees specifically
Tubular flowers feed long-tongue bees (bumblebees, mason bees). Open daisy-form flowers feed short-tongue bees and solitary species. Plant both. Avoid double-flowered cultivars — they're sterile to pollinators. Single-form natives beat fancy hybrids every time.
Provide nesting habitat
70% of native bees nest in bare ground. Leave a sunny patch of un-mulched soil for them. Other natives use hollow stems — keep last year's coneflower and bee balm stalks standing through winter, cut in March. A bee hotel for cavity nesters is fine but maintenance-heavy; bare ground is free.
Stop using pesticides
Neonicotinoid-treated nursery plants kill native bees for weeks after planting. Buy from sources that explicitly state "neonic-free." Skip Bayer's Tree & Shrub Insect Control entirely — it's neonic, and it persists in flowers and leaves for the entire bloom season.
Water source
A shallow dish with stones (so bees don't drown) refilled every other day in summer is enough. Position in part shade so it doesn't evaporate by noon. Honeybees teach hive-mates the location; native bees just orbit.