Non-native ornamental plants fill most Sacramento yards. They look fine, many are beautiful — but for bees, especially native bees, they're often nutritionally empty. Native California plants evolved alongside native bees over thousands of years. The pollen and nectar they produce matches what those bees need, the bloom times align with when bees are active, and many native plants require far less water once established than their ornamental counterparts.
The Sacramento region sits at the edge of the Central Valley and foothills, which means we can grow a remarkable range of California natives. Below are ten plants that consistently perform well in Sacramento gardens and rank among the highest-value bee forage in the region.
Why Do Native Plants Matter for Bees?
Research from the University of Delaware found that native oak trees alone support more than 500 species of caterpillars — which in turn feed nesting birds — compared to ornamental ginkgos which support only 5. The same principle applies to bees. Many native bee species have evolved with specific plant relationships. Some mining bees are oligolectic — meaning they collect pollen exclusively from one plant genus. Plant that genus and you support that bee; don't plant it and that bee can't reproduce in your garden regardless of what else you grow.
Beyond specialist relationships, native plants provide forage across a longer season than most ornamental gardens. Strategically planted, a native garden can have something blooming for bees from February through October in Sacramento. That continuous forage is critical — gaps of several weeks with no flowers can collapse native bee populations in a neighborhood.
The 10 Plants
1. California Poppy — Eschscholzia californica
Bloom season: February through May, with fall rebloom after rain. Attracts: native mining bees, sweat bees, bumble bees. California's state flower is also one of the best early-season bee plants you can grow. It self-seeds prolifically, requires zero supplemental water once established, and produces abundant pollen (though little nectar). Plant in full sun in well-drained soil — it thrives in the poor, dry conditions that most ornamentals refuse. Scatter seed directly in fall for spring bloom.
2. Coyote Mint — Monardella villosa
Bloom season: June through August. Attracts: bumble bees, longhorn bees, sphinx moths, and dozens of native bee species. Coyote mint is arguably the single best summer-blooming native for bees in the Sacramento foothills. The purple-pink flower heads are dense with nectar and consistently covered with foraging bees on warm days. It grows 1 to 2 feet tall, tolerates drought once established, and spreads slowly to form attractive low mounds. Plant in well-drained soil with afternoon shade in the hottest parts of the valley.
3. California Buckwheat — Eriogonum fasciculatum
Bloom season: April through September, with dried seed heads persisting through winter. Attracts: a staggering diversity — over 100 native bee species have been documented foraging on Eriogonum. California buckwheat is the backbone plant of any serious pollinator garden. It's extremely drought-tolerant, shrubby (3 to 4 feet), and blooms for an exceptionally long season. The flowers transition from white to rust-orange as they age, providing visual interest through fall. The dried seed heads feed birds through winter.
4. Cleveland Sage — Salvia clevelandii
Bloom season: May through July. Attracts: bumble bees, carpenter bees, native bees, hummingbirds. One of the most aromatic native sages, Cleveland sage produces tall spikes of deep blue-purple flowers that bees work intensively. It grows 3 to 5 feet tall and wide, makes an excellent drought-tolerant hedge, and the fragrance alone is worth planting it. Best in full sun with excellent drainage — it dislikes summer water once established. Prune back by one-third after bloom to maintain compact shape.
5. Woolly Blue Curls — Trichostema lanatum
Bloom season: April through July, with intermittent bloom through fall. Attracts: bumble bees, carpenter bees, digger bees. Woolly blue curls is a spectacularly beautiful shrub that's underused in Sacramento gardens. The blue-purple flowers are covered in dense purple wool (the "woolly" in the name), and bees go to them aggressively. It wants full sun, perfect drainage, and no summer water — the exact conditions of our hot, dry summers. Once established it's remarkably tough and long-lived.
6. Narrowleaf Milkweed — Asclepias fascicularis
Bloom season: June through September. Attracts: bumble bees, sweat bees, milkweed beetles, monarch butterflies. The milkweed species native to California's Central Valley, narrowleaf milkweed is essential for monarchs and valuable for a wide range of bees. It goes dormant in winter, which is ecologically appropriate and signals to wildlife that it's a true native (tropical milkweed, sold widely at nurseries, stays green year-round and disrupts monarch migration patterns — plant native milkweed instead). Cut dormant stalks to the ground in January.
7. Sticky Monkeyflower — Diplacus aurantiacus
Bloom season: March through August. Attracts: bumble bees, hummingbirds. The orange-yellow tubular flowers of sticky monkeyflower are perfectly shaped for bumble bees to access, and bumble bees work them enthusiastically. It's a compact shrub (2 to 3 feet), blooms early and long, and handles the dry Sacramento summers well with established plants needing little or no supplemental water. Color varies from pale yellow to deep orange — source locally grown plants for the best regional genetics.
8. Blue-Eyed Grass — Sisyrinchium bellum
Bloom season: March through May. Attracts: small native bees, sweat bees. Despite the name, blue-eyed grass is actually a member of the iris family, not a grass. It forms low grass-like tufts (8 to 12 inches) with vivid blue-purple flowers in spring. It's excellent at the front of a border or mixed with California poppies for a low-maintenance spring display. It naturalizes readily in moist areas and is one of the few natives that tolerates seasonal wet conditions.
9. Western Redbud — Cercis occidentalis
Bloom season: February through April. Attracts: bumble bees, mining bees, mason bees. Western redbud is one of the best early-season tree-scale plants for bees in our region. It blooms on bare branches before the leaves emerge — clouds of magenta-pink flowers that mining bees and early bumble bee queens rely on heavily. It grows 10 to 20 feet, makes an excellent small shade tree for Sacramento yards, and has striking fall color. The seed pods are edible and were used by indigenous Californians. Drought tolerant once established.
10. Toyon — Heteromeles arbutifolia
Bloom season: June through July for flowers; October through January for berries. Attracts: native bees (summer), cedar waxwings, robins, and other birds (winter). Toyon is a large shrub or small tree (6 to 20 feet) that earns its space twice — first with clusters of small white flowers that bees work in summer, then with masses of red berries that feed birds through winter. It's the plant Hollywood was named for (the hills were covered in it). Extremely drought tolerant, fire resistant, and long-lived. One of the best all-around natives for a Sacramento garden.
How Do You Put a Bee Garden Together?
The most effective pollinator gardens layer plants by bloom time — something early (redbud, poppy), something for the long dry summer (buckwheat, coyote mint, Cleveland sage), and something that bridges seasons (toyon, narrowleaf milkweed). Even a 50-square-foot patch planted with three or four of these species will support measurably more bee activity than the same space in lawn or ornamentals.
All of these plants are available at local native plant nurseries. The Sacramento area has several excellent sources: the Sacramento chapter of the California Native Plant Society sells plants at their annual fall sale, and Elderberry Farms Nursery and Capital Nursery carry good native selections year-round.
The Bee Conservatory partners with the Sacramento City Unified School District to install native pollinator gardens at elementary schools. If you're interested in helping fund or plant one, reach out through our contact page.