Beeloved Bumblebees

Creating a Bumblebee Haven in Your Spokane Yard

Bumblebees are among the most important pollinators in Inland Northwest gardens, but they need more than just flowers to thrive. A truly bumblebee-friendly landscape offers three essentials: food, shelter, and safety. When it comes to food, variety is everything — and Spokane's climate is wonderfully suited to a wide range of bee-friendly natives. Planting early bloomers like native blue camas and prairie smoke gets the season started, while mid-summer favorites such as purple coneflower and native penstemons keep the buffet going strong. Wrapping up the season with goldenrod and asters gives local bumblebee species — including the Western bumblebee and the black-tailed bumblebee — the late-season fuel they need before winter sets in. Choosing plants adapted to the region's dry summers and cold winters means less maintenance for you and a more reliable food source for the bees.

Shelter is something many Spokane gardeners overlook, but it's just as critical as planting the right flowers. Most of our local bumblebee species nest in the ground, often taking over abandoned vole or mouse burrows or tucking beneath ornamental bunchgrasses like Idaho fescue. Leaving a small patch of undisturbed soil, a modest brush pile, or a cluster of native bunchgrasses gives queens a real chance to establish a colony each spring. The Spokane area's harsh winters make overwintering habitat especially important — mated queens spend the cold months buried just below the soil surface, so resisting the urge to till or deeply disturb garden beds in fall and early spring can make a significant difference in how many colonies successfully establish come May.

Finally, keeping your Spokane yard safe is just as important as making it welcoming. Reducing or eliminating pesticide use protects bumblebees from chemical exposure during foraging — this is particularly important during the dry Spokane summers when bees may be ranging widely in search of water and bloom. Converting a section of thirsty lawn to a low-water native meadow with yarrow, blanketflower, or wild bergamot not only supports bumblebees but also makes good sense in a region where water conservation matters. Even modest changes — a container of native wildflowers on a patio, a strip of clover replacing a patch of grass, or a corner of the yard left to grow a little wild — add up to meaningful habitat for the native bumblebees that make our Inland Northwest gardens come alive.

For more information visit: 

https://xerces.org/bumble-bees

https://www.bumblebeeatlas.org/