Bee-Safe Nursery Plants

Photo: Nancy Kennedy, iStock

Are you creating or enhancing pollinator habitat in your yard, a public park, or other space? If so, take time to ensure you have bee-safe plants for your project.

Be aware that nurseries—even those producing pollinator plants—may have treated their plants with pesticides. Growers are very sensitive to consumer intolerance for plant damage, and sometimes states mandate pesticide applications to prevent the spread of certain pests. Toxic levels of insecticides and high levels of fungicides have been detected in nursery plants repeatedly. Unfortunately, bees and butterflies may encounter risks from the commonplace use of pesticides during plant production, which can leave residues on or in plants.

Creating a welcoming home for pollinators is reason enough to choose plants free from harmful pesticide residues. But how do you figure out if the plant you want is safe? How do you learn if the nurseries you patronize actively prevents pest problems instead of relying on pesticides as a routine fix?

Talk to your nursery! Let them know you want plants free of harmful pesticide contamination. Nurseries are more likely to make investments in pollinator-friendly production if their customers make it clear this is what they want. Our guide, Buying Bee-Safe Plants, covers four ways to help you find plants that are safe for bees, and includes tips and questions to use at the nursery. In particular, we recommend that you:

Ask for USDA certified organic plants and seeds,,
Avoid plants grown with neonicotinoids and similar insecticides,
Shop at nurseries that practice pollinator-friendly pest management, and/or
Grow your own plants.

What is Pollinator-Friendly Pest Management?

Three core elements of pollinator-friendly growing include using non-chemical methods to prevent and manage pests, monitoring of pest pressure, and limiting risk to pollinators if pesticides are used. These concepts are rooted in integrated pest management and are familiar to most growers. Our new resource, Offering Bee-Safe Nursery Plants: A Guide for Nurseries, explains these concepts further and was created for nurseries and retailers to explore, encourage, and implement pollinator friendly pest-management. The guide provides a starting point for retailers to inquire into the management practices of their suppliers, and for growers to assess their own practices. It also offers a deeper dive for those consumers who want to learn more about sustainable practices.

Get Involved!

Gardeners like yourself are taking just a few minutes to ask nursery managers for plants free of pesticides that might harm pollinators. The idea is to turn out in force asking for bee-safe plants - wherever you live. Since February 2021, pollinator advocates have committed to contact their nurseries in nearly 90 cities! Join us - we need your voices!

You can visit, call, or write to your local garden center or nursery, to ask for plants free of pesticides that could hurt pollinators. Let us know if you plan to talk to your nursery at this link.

When you visit your nursery or garden center, use the talking points and questions in the fact sheet Buying Bee-Safe Plants and provide the nursery staff with a copy of the Offering Bee-Safe Plants: A Guide for Nurseries fact sheet. To be most prepared, first view our webinar, available on YouTube, Buying Bee-Safe Plants: How You Can Help. The webinar will provide you with tools for identifying pollinator-friendly growing practices in nurseries and greenhouses, and will help you learn how to approach your nurseries effectively.

Let's do this together! So far, you and your fellow advocates for bee-safe plants have reached out to nurseries across the U.S., and into Canada, as shown by the map below. Zoom in for details.

Did You Talk to Your Nursery?

We are very curious to learn how your conversations with your nurseries went!

Please take a minute to let us know about your experience and how the nursery responded at this link.

Do You Know an Exemplary Nursery?

Share your story on a nursery that is doing great work sourcing or growing bee-safe plants! The nursery just might get featured on our blog, which will help to inform and inspire others! Email your work to [email protected].

Spread the Word

Share these materials with friends and neighbors. Let your social media contacts know what you’re doing too. You can post Xerces tips about how to buy bee-safe plants by linking to this web page. While you are at it, tag with #BeeSafePlants to increase exposure. And don’t forget to post and tag when you’ve asked your nursery questions about their use of pollinator-friendly production practices—you’ll inspire others to do the same.