Mission of the Project
By thinking globally, and acting locally, we commit to working together as a community to conserve our native pollinators through planting an abundance and diversity of native plants, providing nesting sites, applying conscientious management of planted and natural areas, and a County-wide commitment to reduce the use of pesticides.
Two-tailed Swallowtail Butterfly on native Cleome serrulata, White Rock, NM | Photo by Dana Ecelberger
News & Updates
It’s official! We are a Bee City USA Affiliate as of 2/16/2024! We are one of over 200 affiliates across the United States!
Join us for a Winter Seed Sowing Workshop on December 14th, 2024 from 1-2:30 p.m. at Fellowship Hall Unitarian Church of Los Alamo 1738 N. Sage St. For more information contact KokHeongMcNaughton kokheong@comcast.net or text 505-920-6808
We are honored to have participated in the Los Alamos Master Gardener Conference at Fuller Lodge on September 14, 2024. If you missed it, HERE is a link to our presentation about how to incorporate native plants for pollinators into home and municipal landscapes.
Check each month for a featured native pollinator and tips on how to identify them HERE
This is a list of plants that are native to the Jemez Mountain area that are relatively easy to grow, will do well in Los Alamos and White Rock, and can usually be found in nearby nurseries or as seeds.
This is not a comprehensive list of all of the native plants in the region but, rather, a carefully chosen selection of plants that will grow well in this area, with significant benefits to pollinators, and that are suitable for home and municipal landscape projects.
We have added a Color Photo Guide and links to websites with more information about each plant.
We are excited to partner with PEEC & Los Alamos County Parks & Recreation to transform the open space next to the Senior Center into a Pollinator Demonstration Garden.
For more information, and pictures as this site transforms, CLICK HERE
You can find our Featured Pollinator of the Month & Native Pollinator Lists HERE
Email us at coordinator@beecitylosalamos.org to get involved. We appreciate volunteer help and will be looking for help photographing and tracking pollinators next season.
You can sign up to volunteer to weed and/or water at volunteerlosalamos.org
Inspired by Xerces Santa Fe, we are hosting our own Backyard Pollinator Garden Project.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Carroll Petrie Foundation, we will offer a limited number of native plant collections of special benefit to our pollinators. The application period will open in June or July 2025. To be sure you receive notification of the application period, sign up for our mailing list. The form can be found at the bottom of the home page.
CLICK HERE for more details on this great project and HERE for the participant page with updates & tips
Xerces is a treasure trove of information. Here you will find lots of Xerces resources plus scientific papers and other interesting links to expand your knowledge & understanding of pollinators, why they matter, & how you can help to support them.
For local and national resources and information on pollinators, plants that benefit pollinators and more, be sure to check out our Resource page HERE
Check here each month for new blog posts by staff and guest writers about pollinators, native plants, gardening in the high desert and much more.
If you are passionate about pollinators, native plants, gardens for pollinators or any other topic related to pollinators, and would like to write a blog post or article, please reach out to our coordinator at: coordinator@beecitylosalamos.org
Click HERE to go to the Blog
Educational & Youth Resources
Xerces hosts a youth program called X-Kids. Click here to find out how to get your youth involved: https://xerces.org/xkids and for great educational resources: https://www.xerces.org/education
Also, be sure to sign up for PEEC’s mailing list so you can receive updates on local activities for children, families and everyone in between @ https://peecnature.org/
PEEC’s Citizen Science project starts on April 20th, 2024. You can participate in gathering data on native pollinators, and the plants they frequent, by downloading the iNaturalist app on your computer or mobile phone and enabling location services. Your observations will be automatically included in our data collection project. This information will help us build a native pollinator list specific to the Jemez Mountains, and will provide crucial baseline data for research & for tracking changes over time.
Click HERE for more information about the PEEC Citizen Science Project
Our Committee meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month from 4-5 pm at the Pajarito Environmental Education Center located at 2600 Canyon Road, Los Alamos, NM 87544.
Sign up for our mailing list to receive our monthly newsletter or email us at: coordinator@beecitylosalamos.org
Click HERE for more information on the BCLA Committee Structure & Members
Pajarito Environmental Education Center aka Los Alamos Nature Center
An incredible local resource, PEEC is our host organization and a great place to watch pollinators and birds in action, learn more about the local ecology, take wildflower hikes, learn about our wildlife and more!
Go to PEEC’s home page to navigate through all of the programs & resources available: https://peecnature.org/
Los Alamos County Parks & Recreation | Integrated Pest Management Plan
The County of Los Alamos (Parks & Recreation Department) & Pajarito Environmental Education Center (our host organization) are our primary partners. Stay tuned for some exciting pollinator projects on County land that we are undertaking in partnership with L.A. Parks & Recreation and PEEC!
You can find out more about Los Alamos County Parks & Recreation & the updated Integrated Pest Management Plan by clicking HERE.
Los Alamos Community Seed Library & Northern New Mexico Gardeners
Los Alamos County is fortunate to have not one but THREE seed libraries: the Mesa Community Library; the White Rock Library; and PEEC. All three offer locally saved & donated seeds of vegetables, herbs, native plants & more! They also welcome volunteers to donate and to help process & package seeds. Here is the link to their Facebook page for more information: https://www.facebook.com/groups/741830773546650
There is also a Northern NM Gardeners group that has lots of great information about growing in our short, high desert climate. Here is the link to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/601402053284505
If you don’t use Facebook, you can email the seed library for more information at: lacomseedlib+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Los Alamos Master Gardeners is a group of expert gardeners who have gone through the NMSU Master Gardener training. You can turn to them for questions about gardening in our high desert climate. Here is a link to their webpage: https://www.lamgonline.org/
Santa Fe Master Gardeners has a robust Pollinator garden program with lots of helpful information & plant lists. Here is the link to their project listings: https://www.sfemg.org/projects
If you are interested in becoming a Master Gardener, you can find out more about the program through the Los Alamos Extension Office here: https://losalamosextension.nmsu.edu/gardeners/mgc.html
Photos on this page taken by Dana Ecelberger in White Rock and East Fork Jemez, NM 2023