MANY SPECIES OF NATIVE BEES ARE SPECIALISTS , MEANING THEY GATHER POLLEN FROM ONLY ONE SPECIFIC NATIVE PLANT OR PLANT FAMILY .
MANY SPECIES OF NATIVE BEES ARE SPECIALISTS , MEANING THEY GATHER POLLEN FROM ONLY ONE SPECIFIC NATIVE PLANT OR PLANT FAMILY .
is the plant for you ! Little top growth is visible in its first year , as it spends that time creating an incredibly long tap root ( twelve feet long ), making it extremely drought tolerant . In its second year , there is more foliage than flowers . The third year brings a modest number of blooms . But in the fourth year , it is incredibly beautiful , as large as a small shrub and chock full of multiple spires of flowers .
Many species of native bees are specialists , meaning they gather pollen from only one specific native plant or plant family . However , bumble bees are generalists , able to pollinate a wide variety of flowering plants . Their different tongue lengths — short , medium , or long — are the limiting factors for which flowers they can utilize . Combined , they cover a great assortment of different flower shapes and sizes , including those that honeybees cannot access .
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