How to Help Bumble Bees
The plight of honeybees is well publicized. But you don’t hear much about other bees that need our help, and that’s too bad because many other kinds of bees are also disappearing fast. In this column, I’m hoping to raise awareness about what’s happening to bumble bees, particularly the rusty patched bumble bee. It’s not too late to help.
Rusty patched bumble bee—Xerces Society, by Johanna James-Heinz
Of the 48 bumble bee species in North America, several are considered to be in decline for a variety of reasons. But in December of 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared that the rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) was endangered because their numbers had declined by 87 percent over the past 20 years.
A happy bumble bee (not rusty patched) collecting pollen. —iStock
One of Minnesota’s declining bumble bee species, the rusty patched bumble bee was the first bee species in the continental U.S. to be declared endangered, but it probably won’t be the last. Minnesota is one of the few states where rusty patched bumble bees can still be found, and they are most commonly spotted in the Twin Cities area.
Reasons for the decline of bumble bees mirror those of other bees: pesticide use, climate change, habitat loss and disease have all seemingly contributed to their demise. The situation is dire, but there are positive things gardeners can do to help. A good place to start is to stop using pesticides, or at least limit their use. Next, if you have a big yard and can allow a small space or two to include a few little piles of leaves or brush, queen bumble bees will thank you for the nice places to nest.
Rusty patched bumble bee specimen in the National Collection at the Smithsonian.
Because bumble bees are out early in spring and are active before many plants are in bloom, consider adding some early-spring-flowering bulbs, perennials, shrubs and trees to your yard, like plums, hazelnut, witch hazel, willows, grape hyacinth, scilla (one of my favorite spring plants), snowdrops, crocus, hellebore and Virginia bluebells. Of course, there are many other plants that can be added to your gardens to help bumble bees and other pollinators too.
Unlike honeybees, bumble bees don’t have a lot of honey stored in their nests, so they depend on available flowers.The University of Minnesota’s bee lab has a lot of helpful information on bees on its website, including Plants for Minnesota Bees, which lists several flowering plants that bees like that are suited to most home landscapes. Remember to include plants that offer nectar and pollen because bees need both the protein from pollen and the carbohydrates from nectar to survive.
Rough blazingstar
—Courtesy of Prairie Nursery
In addition to planting bumble bee favorites like blueberries, tomatoes, borage, sage, oregano and thyme, here are some standouts to consider from the bee lab’s list, as well as other sources:
- Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
- Autumn joy sedum (Hylotelephium telephium)
- Beebalm (Monarda fistulosa)
- Catmint (Nepeta x fassenii)
- Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum)
- Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
- Honeysuckle vine (Lonicera)
- Ironweed (Vernonia fasiculata)
- Partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)
- Primroses (Primula vulgaris)
- Rough blazingstar (Liatris aspera)
- Sea holly (Eryngium maritimum)
- Stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida)
- Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)
To learn more about bumble bees, including more information on why they are disappearing and what their needs are in terms of habitat, nesting and overwintering, have a look at this section of the Xerces Society’s website.
I’d also like to suggest two great books about pollinators by local authors: Pollinator Friendly Gardening by Rhonda Hayes and Pollinators of Native Plants by Heather Holm.
—A version of this story appeared in Northern Gardener magazine.
Nice Plants for Northern Gardens
- On October 03, 2017
- By Meleah
- In Natives, Perennials, Plant Spotlight, Uncategorized
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Before I start nattering on about plants I like, let me first tell you that, as always in the fall, the Little Free Seed Library is up and running at my house. You’ll find it on the boulevard on the corner of 45th Street and Washburn Ave. South. I’ve already started putting out seeds I’ve collected from our gardens, and neighbors have been dropping off more. I hope you’ll consider bringing some seeds to share, and if you do, please bring them in envelopes or baggies that are clearly marked with the name of the plant. I’ve put small, coin-sized envelopes in the seed library so people can choose seeds from larger envelopes, and pack them up easily to take home. (For more information on the seed library, check out this blog post.)
Okay, now let’s talk about plants. I like to buy a few new plants every year. It’s fun to have something new in the garden, and it’s always interesting to see how they do—or don’t do, as is the case with nearly every Japanese anemone I’ve ever planted except Anemone tomentosa ‘Robustissima’. That beauty has survived whatever my brown-thumb problem is with these plants.
‘Chocolate Shogun’ Astilbe
Anyway, I’d like to tell you about a few plants that I’ve tried and come to love over the past couple of years. First up: Astilbe ‘Chocolate Shogun’. The dark purple foliage of this unique astilbe looks beautiful in my shade gardens where I’ve paired them with hostas, ligularia and yellow-leaved ‘Sun King’ Japanese spikenard. Hardy down to horrifyingly cold Zone 3 (Minneapolis is Zone 4), ‘Chocolate Shogun’ grows 18 to 24 inches high and does best in partial shade. Even when established, these plants need to be watered so try to group them with other plants that like a little extra moisture, such as ligularia, dwarf goatsbeard and foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia).
‘Sun King’ Aralia—courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries
If you’ve never grown epimedium, let me introduce you. There are several varieties to choose from for our region. I’m partial to Snowy Epimedium (Epimedium x youngianum ‘Niveum’), which is hardy to Zone 4. These delicate-looking shade-loving plants grow 6 to 8 inches tall and up to 18 inches wide. The heart-shaped foliage is pretty enough to make this a must-have for me, but the miniature white flowers that appear in early spring are a much-needed respite from winter.
Feeling pretty sick of bee balm looking great and then getting covered with disgusting powdery mildew by July? Me too. That’s why I’d recommend Eastern bee balm (Monarda bradburiana). Hardy to Zone 4, plants grow to about 2 feet tall and wide, and they are nicely clumped rather than floppy like some bee balms can be. Plant these in full sun to partial shade and bees and hummingbirds will zoom in to enjoy them.
I’ve got a couple of different varieties of goatsbeard in my gardens, but my current favorite is ‘Horatio’ (Aruncus ‘Horatio’). Hardy to Zone 4, plants grow to about 3 feet tall and wide and will do best in partial shade—though they can tolerate full sun. I love the dark green leaves on this variety, as well the white, fringed blooms, which have a faintly sweet smell.
‘Raspberry Splash’ lungwort—courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries
Lungwort (Pulmonaria) sounds like a horrid plant, but it’s really quite lovely despite its name, which came about because the plants’ leaves were long ago used unsuccessfully to treat lung infections. Over the years I have added many varieties of lungwort to my gardens. All have their good points, really, but Pulmonaria ‘Raspberry Splash’ is my favorite. Hardy to Zone 4, these plants grow to about 12 inches high and are said top out at about 18 inches wide. In truth, the ones in my front gardens are much wider, so huge, in fact, that people often wonder if they are “some kind of spotted hosta”. Plants will do best in partial shade and are covered in early spring with raspberry-colored blooms.
Go Goats!
If you read my column even occasionally, you’ve likely gleaned that I’m not very keen on the Minneapolis Park Board’s outdated, chemical-laden approach to managing our public parks, ball fields and other outdoor spaces under their control. Today, though, I want to acknowledge something they did recently that was actually good.
If you haven’t already heard, in late May, Minneapolis joined other cities, including St. Paul, Minnetonka and Northfield, in using goats to help manage invasive plants, like buckthorn and garlic mustard. My husband, Mike, and I saw the goats in action near Cedar Lake’s east beach (Hidden Beach) a few weeks ago. And I have to say that one week into their 10-day stay, those goats had pretty much denuded the 6-acre area they were corralled in. It was wonderful to see and hear them as they wandered around with their babies munching on greenery. Apparently their next stop will be the northwest portion of Wirth Park in late July.
Rented from Diversity Landworks of La Crescent, Minn., the goats were protected by two layers of fencing and an on-site shepherd, Jesse Dale. While the creatures can’t control invasive species in just one visit, the hope is that repeated visits will at least keep problem plants in check. It the Park Board sees positive results they say they may cut down on the amount of glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) and other herbicides they are currently using. Let’s hope that’s the case. Go goats!
Support Urban Food Forests
Food forests—if you haven’t yet heard of them, you will. The concept is best known in connection with permaculture, which goes beyond organic growing to create landscapes that exist in harmony with nature. Designed to include nut- and fruit-producing trees and shrubs, as well as many other edible and pollinator-friendly plants, food forests are not only interesting and enchanting. They provide food for people and wildlife. They also make if possible for people, particularly urban dwellers, to see up close how food is grown and experience the joy of picking something and eating it. Heck, they may even inspire some to add edible plants to their home gardens.
For all of those reasons and more, many cities around the country—and the world—have opted in the last 10 years or so to turn vacant city lots and patches of parks into food forests and community orchards. London; Victoria, British Columbia; Calgary and Toronto, Canada; Seattle, Washington; Bloomington, Indiana, Madison, Wisconsin; Asheville, North Carolina, Glendale, Ohio; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are just a few of those cities. More information on those projects and a list of others can found here.
Raspberries could easily be part of an urban food forest. —iStock
Minneapolis makes the list with the Bancroft Meridian Garden Food Forest. The lot along 38th Street started out as a flower garden tended by the community, but in 2014 the group decided it was time to create a food forest that was more sustainable for people, wildlife and the land. Everyone in the community is welcome to stroll around pick a few berries, apples, herbs or other things. The idea is not to harvest the food, but to create an urban foraging space for all to enjoy.
More food forests will hopefully be a part of Minneapolis’ future. But one thing is clear: it is going to take advocacy from people like us to make that happen. Russ Henry, a longtime activist and landscape designer who is running for an at-large Park Board seat, and Ryan Seibold, who leads the Hiawatha Food Forest group, have been working for months to get a food forest started near Lake Hiawatha on the site of the frequently flooded Hiawatha Golf Course.
Public feedback has been positive for the most part. In many different public meetings, thousands of residents (golfers and non-golfers) have expressed support for the idea of restoring the wetlands, which were drained in the 1930s to create the golf course. Along the edge of the wetland on a little big higher ground, edibles could be planted to create a walkable food forest.
Serviceberries are hardy in Minnesota. Birds love them, and humans can make great pies with them. —iStock
The idea was by far the most popular among those that were pitched during a March 16 “Innovation Lab.” Organized by Henry, the event drew more than 150 people who wanted to hear farmers, beekeepers, restaurateurs, composters and other interested folks offer their thoughts on transforming the local food system. “People like the idea of being able to do some food foraging in parks,” says Henry, who believes food forests have the potential to also connect people and build communities.
Read More»Free Seeds and Help for the Bees
- On March 30, 2017
- By Meleah
- In Annuals, Natives, Organic Gardening, Perennials, Uncategorized
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It’s nearly spring and that means my Little Free Seed Library will soon be up and running. As many of you know, I reserve the top shelf of our Little Free Library for seed sharing in the spring and fall. I will be stocking the library in mid-March with seeds from my garden, as well as several different types of seeds that people donated late in the fall. The library is located on the boulevard on the corner of 45th Street and Washburn Ave. S. in Linden Hills.
There are small, coin-sized envelopes available for those who want to take seeds, as well as pencils to write down what you’ve packaged up. Seeds that are available for the taking are either in their original packets or large envelopes that are labeled with the plants’ names. Please take what you want from those packets and large envelopes and leave the rest for others.
If you have seeds to share—and we can always use more—please bring them in their original packets or envelopes that are labeled so people can clearly see what’s available. And thank you very much to all who have helped make this seed-sharing library a success for the last several years. People stop by all the time during the summer to tell me that the sunflowers or tomatoes or cosmos in their yard came from the seed library. Sometimes they even get out their phones to show me photos of what they’re growing. It’s a joyful thing to be part of and all of us are making it possible. Way to go, us!
Help for the Bees
As you probably know, news about the health of bees continues to get worse. Just last December the rusty-patched bumblebee was declared endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because their numbers have declined so much in the past 20 years. Other bumblebee species are also declining, as are populations of other types of bees.
Gardeners are in a unique position to help bees of all types. If you’d like some bee-friendly plant ideas, have a look at the University of Minnesota bee lab’s publication, Plants for Minnesota Bees. Plants on the list vary widely and are workable for home landscapes of many different types.
Don’t feel like buying new plants? No problem. If your lawn is chemical free, you can help pollinators by leaving some of your lawn weeds for them to feast on. White clover is everywhere is most people’s lawns, and it often blooms from mid-spring through the fall. Flowers on this not-that-bad-looking weed, which is recognizable for its three-leaved shape, are white and bees love them because they are wide enough to land on comfortably. White clover doesn’t need to be tall to bloom, so if you set your mower to 3 inches, your lawn will look reasonably neat and you’ll still leave plenty of nectar and pollen for your bee friends.
White Clover—iStock
Dandelions are also a bee favorite. So while these weeds are less easy on the eyes, consider leaving a few in some area of your lawn. Those yellow flowers provide bees with nectar and pollen that they need to survive.
Again, though, be sure that areas you leave for bees are not treated with chemicals that will harm or kill them. No matter what your lawn service tells you, none of the chemicals used to treat grass are safe for pollinators—or other living things, for that matter. But that’s a separate column. For now, let’s set our sights on helping the bees. They need us now more than ever.
A Bit of Good News For Us and the Planet
Well gardener friends, at this dark time when we are up to our eyeballs in bad news about pretty much everything and politicians are compounding our worries by behaving like raised-by-wolves toddlers, let me offer a spot of sunshine. In case you haven’t heard, two positive things have happened for the planet—or at least our local slice of it—in recent weeks.
Good thing number 1: At long last, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture has confirmed that neonicotinoids, a commonly used group of pesticides, are highly toxic to honeybees—even when they are used in accordance with the law. How is this good news? You ask. Well, despite mounting evidence, the suggestion that neonics are likely one of many things contributing to the decline of honeybees remains heatedly disputed.
Honeybees need our help. Credit: iStock
Now, investigators from the state Department of Agriculture have found that in fact the hives of two beekeepers were decimated by toxic dust that drifted from the cornfield of a neighbor. The seeds the neighbor planted had been coated with clothianidin, a neonicotinoid that is routinely used to coat agriculturally grown corn and soybeans in the United States. The insecticide protects the seeds from insects in the soil. It also protects the plants themselves because all parts contain the toxin, making the whole corn or soybean plant poisonous.
According to a Star Tribune story on March 20, Bayer CropScience, the maker of neonic pesticides, has acknowledged that toxic drift from cornfields planted with treated seeds can be harmful to bees and other pollinators. However, they say the problem is rare. Beekeepers and bee researchers beg to differ, countering that drift is a common and ongoing issue.
Credit: iStock
Both beekeepers will be compensated for the loss of their hives under a 2014 law that enables beekeepers to collect damages even though, technically, no law was broken because seed treating is not currently considered a pesticide application. What? Anyway, yes there is much to be done on this issue, but the Department of Agriculture’s action makes Minnesota the first state to declare, as a finding of fact, that neonics are harmful to bees.
Fellow gardeners, the seeds available to us are not coated with neonics, but we can continue to do out part to help bees and the Earth by saying NO to plants that are sprayed and/or soil-drenched with the neonicotinoid pesticides. Ask before you buy. Together we can make a change.
Good Thing Number 2
On March 16, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) voted to stop using glyphosate (the active ingredient in the weed killer, Roundup) in neighborhood parks. Activists have been calling on the park board to ban chemical use in Minneapolis parks for several months. (See the Southwest Journal story I wrote on the issue in October for more information.) Little progress has been made so far. But during a park board meeting on the 16th, more than 40 people showed up to voice their opposition to the use of pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals in public parks. Many others called and emailed.
Pesticide-free parks, yeah!
This public outpouring of concern about the health effects of glyphosate and other chemicals, in addition to a recent update board members received on when and where staff use chemicals, seems to have sparked the move to stop using Roundup. But eliminating the use of one chemical in neighborhood parks is a long way from the shift to chemical-free, organic park management that activists would like to see.
In the absence of glyphosate, which has been increasingly linked to health and environmental problems, the board is free to continue using many other pesticides and herbicides that could potentially cause harm. The vote also allows them to continue using Roundup in regional parks at Lake Calhoun and Minnehaha Falls, as well as on ball fields and golf courses.
Based on what has been said about the issue, only commissioner Brad Bourn is openly in favor of moving to an organic approach to managing Minneapolis parks. Commissioner John Erwin strongly supports reducing the use of chemicals. The rest of the board—all of them elected by the public—don’t seem to see chemical-free parks in our future. Do you? If so, now is the time to email the commissioners, particularly Scott Vreeland, who has repeatedly said this is an issue that only activists care about. From what I hear from neighbors and readers who frequent our parks with their children and dogs, I am certain he is mistaken.
