“Plant Bee Friendly”
Garden Awards
The Beekeepers Guild of Santa Barbara invites local residents to nominate their neighbor’s gardens (or their own!) to win one of ten coveted “Plant Bee Friendly” awards, a community competition for green thumbs and hobbyist landscapers to present their gardens while supplying much needed nectar and pollen for local pollinator populations.
“You don’t have to be a beekeeper to help the bees! Healthy gardens are essential to the survival of our pollinators, especially in urban areas where flowering plants may not be readily available” said Laurie Rasmussen, President of The Beekeepers Guild of Santa Barbara. “Many of our native plants are beautiful, bee-friendly, and drought-tolerant, an important consideration here in Santa Barbara.”
In order to qualify, the nominee’s garden should contain:
- Flowering plants/shrubs/trees that are attractive to pollinators. Plants with year-round or successive blooms are preferable, providing pollinators with continual forage.
- Organic and pesticide-free growth.
- A variety of flowers/colors to attract a variety of pollinators. Not all bees are the same!
- A clean source of freshwater.
- Drought-tolerant, California-native plants if possible.
- Entries must be received no later than May 15th, 2020.
Winners will be honored on October 11, 2020 during the Beekeepers Guild’s Annual Harvest Festival.
Create a pollinator-friendly garden
You don’t have to be a beekeeper to help the bees! In fact, recent research suggests that planting flowers that bees like may be more important to bee livelihood than acquiring a hive.
On top of that, many of the native, drought tolerant plants are bee friendly; an important consideration here in Santa Barbara.