Bee City Los Alamos hosts native plant sale fundraiser Saturday
Bee City Los Alamos will sell native plants Saturday at the Nature Center, pairing a free fundraiser with practical help for water-wise, pollinator-friendly yards.
Bee City Los Alamos will bring its annual Native Plant Sale Fundraiser to the Los Alamos Nature Center on Saturday, May 16, from 9 a.m. to noon, with free admission at 2600 Canyon Road. The sale will support the group’s pollinator work while giving shoppers a chance to pick up plants suited to local yards, including species adapted to the Jemez Mountain area and the drier conditions of Los Alamos and White Rock.
The fundraiser fits a larger countywide effort to protect pollinators through habitat, native plants and reduced insecticide use. Los Alamos County became a Bee City USA affiliate after a unanimous County Council vote on January 9, 2024, and PEEC said the affiliation became official on February 16, 2024. That local designation matters because Bee City Los Alamos says native pollinators here face pressure from habitat loss, climate change, pesticide use and the loss of native plant resources.
Native plants are the centerpiece of the event because they do more than fill space in a yard. They provide food and shelter for bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects, and they are already adapted to northern New Mexico’s climate, which makes them a practical choice for water-wise landscaping. Bee City’s recommended native plant list is aimed at plants native to the Jemez Mountain area that are relatively easy to grow in Los Alamos and White Rock, a useful guide for households looking to cut irrigation needs without giving up color or habitat value.
Volunteers will be on hand at the sale to answer questions and help shoppers choose plants that fit their yards and gardening goals. That hands-on help turns the fundraiser into a neighborhood service as much as a revenue source, especially for residents looking to shift toward lower-maintenance landscapes that work with, rather than against, local conditions. Bee City’s mission also includes conscientious management of planted and natural areas, along with countywide reductions in pesticide use.
The group’s other projects show how quickly small plantings can scale into broader habitat. In 2025, Bee City Los Alamos distributed more than 700 native plants to 45 residents through its Backyard Pollinator Garden Project. In 2024, it provided 40 Pollinator Garden Kits through a Carroll Petrie Foundation grant. Bee City also says New Mexico is home to nearly 1,000 species of native bees, a number that underscores how much biodiversity can depend on what gets planted in home landscapes.
Bee City’s Pollinator Demonstration Garden, created with PEEC and Los Alamos County Parks & Recreation near the Betty Ehart Senior Center, offers another example of that approach in action. PEEC says Bee City Los Alamos meets on the third Tuesday of each month at the Nature Center, and residents are invited to attend. The sale adds one more chance to turn local yards into useful habitat, one plant at a time.
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