Pollinator resources

Design and Garden Basics

Critical elements must be in place to create a successful pollinator garden. Each pollinator has various needs throughout their life cycle. They all need high-quality habitat that provides an abundance of flowers throughout the season, shelter and nesting sites, and protection from pesticides. Visit The Xerces Society website for more information. We created a DIY Gardening Guide of the practices that help our plants establish and our flowers bloom with abundance. Download this PDF resource here!

Finding the Right Plants

Plant lists

Flagstaff List compiled by Kate Watters and Molly McCormick for high elevation gardens 6000 ft and above
Verde Valley List compiled by Kate Watters for gardens 3500-5500 ft elevation
Arizona List developed by The Xerces Society and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
National Native Plant Finder compiled by National Wildlife Federation and Dr. Doug Tallamy

Local growers

In my opinion, these are the best places to find plants. Every town has a nerdy backyard grower your job is to find them and buy their plants! In Flagstaff we have Plants for the People and former Truster Gayle Nance from Let It Grow Native Plants. Arizona Native Plant Society has a chapter near you. Join up for plant walks and rubbing elbows with plant dorks. Find your local botanical garden and use this as a resource to learn more plants and shop their plant sales. The Arboretum in Flagstaff, Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, the Desert Museum in Tucson, and Denver Botanic Gardens are wonderful resources.

Shop online

There are many online resources for finding seed and even having plants mailed to you. High Country Gardens and Plants of the Southwest are two of the best.