Bee City Los Alamos recently reached an important milestone—it marked the Backyard Pollinator Garden Project’s third successful year of helping residents and local businesses create pollinator-friendly spaces throughout Los Alamos County. From the beginning of the project, the goal has been simple and powerful: make it easier for people in our county to add pollinator habitat right where they live and work.
Over the last three years, more than 2,000 plants have been distributed to county residents and businesses, with over 150 recipients receiving native plant habitat start kits and information to support their gardening efforts. Those plants and gardeners are helping to build pollinator habitat in our local neighborhoods and landscapes, where bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects can find food and shelter.
This 3-year project wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of a grant from the Carol Petrie Foundation. We’re especially grateful because the grant has funded all Bee City Los Alamos activities for the last three years, making it possible to create and implement this program, reach participants, spread outreach and education, and keep momentum growing.
With help from the PEEC Nature Youth Group, recipient addresses were anonymously used to track the locations of project kits, ensuring a broad but even spread of native plants. Research indicates that adding pollinator habitat intentionally across communities is an excellent way to support pollinators since many rely on resources close to their nest sites.
This year, the Backyard Pollinator Garden Project kits included Rocky Mountain Penstemon, Blanketflower, Upright Coneflower, Purple Aster, Macdougal Verbena and Lanceleaf Coreopsis, as well as an Apache Plume shrub for each recipient. Together, these plants provide flowers in a variety of sizes, shapes, colors, and seasonal bloom times, helping strengthen local ecosystems by providing the right resources for pollinators, while also supporting the wider web of life that depends on healthy habitat.
Thank you to everyone who participated, including volunteers, recipients, and committee members, helping make this project such a success. With the third year complete and the community’s enthusiastic response, we’re proud of what’s been accomplished—and hoping to continue expanding connected native habitats in support of our wild and diverse native pollinators.
Did you know? Bee City’s featured gardens include recipients from the Backyard Pollinator Garden Project:
Congratulations !
Wonderful to see progress.