#PlantWildflowers Campaign
Inspired by the new documentary film, My Garden of a Thousand Bees, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and Nature launched the #PlantWildflowers Campaign to highlight the crucial role wild bees play and help create new pollinators habitats in communities across the United States.
This campaign includes the release of new bee-based video content; distribution of region-specific wildflower seeds, and local activations — including seed planting events, screenings and more—hosted by PBS stations, libraries, and nature centers nationwide; and educational materials and activity guides from PBS LearningMedia and WWF’s Wild Classroom.
Take Action for Native Bees
Bees play a crucial role in healthy ecosystems, including the pollination of most fruit, vegetables, grains, and flowers. These important pollinators are facing challenges from declines in their habitat and food supplies. Through actions as small as planting a section of yards or community spaces with native wildflowers, we can each make a big impact. Even one square foot can make a difference.
This spring-summer, join or host a #PlantWildflowers event to learn more about supporting your local pollinators. Download our free guide for resources to help you engage your community through film screenings, native wildflower seed planting events, classroom discussions, and outdoor activities.
“Each one of us can make a difference.”
- Dr. Samuel Ramsey
Attend a #PlantWildflowers Event
We are partnering with PBS Nature and STAR Net to celebrate wild bees and wildflowers with local PBS stations and libraries nationwide. This spring-summer, we’re organizing more than 125 unique #PlantWildflowers events across the United States.
Find an event in your community!
Bring the Wonders of Bees to Your Community
Invite your community to see bees like they’ve never seen them before!
My Garden of a Thousand Bees follows wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn, who, locked down by coronavirus, turns his lenses on the surprising and spectacular bees living in his own urban garden in Bristol, England.
My Garden of a Thousand Bees is available to stream online for free at pbs.org/nature and the PBS Video app. You can also request a DVD or digital download by completing the request form below.
This short film explores what pollinators are, what services they provide, the astonishing diversity of pollinators (particularly wild bees) found in North America, and how everyone can help protect pollinators in their communities.
Share The Power of Pollinators with your community through screening and discussion about local action to help native bees.
The Power of Pollinators was co-produced by Days Edge Productions and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and hosted/narrated by Dr. Samuel Ramsey.
Explore Local Wildlife with a BioBlitz
A Bioblitz is an exciting and engaging outdoor activity that empowers your community to collect information about your local plant and wildlife.
Using handheld devices like mobile phones and tablets – and the community science app iNaturalist – your participants can transform a local park or garden into a living laboratory. Photo observations they make are instantly uploaded into the global database, where species are identified by the millions-strong iNaturalist community, and the data is used by real conservationists and researchers who study species health and biodiversity.
Use the #PlantWildflower BioBlitz Guide to organize an outdoor BioBlitz event. Participants will need the iNaturalist and Seek apps, or access to printed guides.
Protect Your Local Pollinators
Plant Native Wildflowers
Everyone can help support wild bees and other pollinators at home and in their local communities by providing and protecting pollinator habitats through simple actions like planting one square foot of native wildflowers. Learn more about native wildflowers in your region from the Pollinator Partnership and American Meadows.
In addition to planting native wildflowers, preserving old logs, wood, and snag trees in your yard or local park is also important. This spring and summer, let your lawn grow wild!
Participate in a Community Science Project
One of the world’s most popular nature apps, iNaturalist helps you identify the plants and animals around you. Get connected with a community of over a million scientists and naturalists who can help you learn more about nature! What’s more, by recording and sharing your observations, you’ll create research quality data for scientists working to better understand and protect nature. iNaturalist is a joint initiative by the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society.
The Seek app allows curious naturalists of all ages to earn badges and participate in challenges to observe organisms with on-screen identification using computer vision for identifications based on data from iNaturalist. Seek is kid-safe and fun for the family. No registration is involved, and no user data is collected.
Bumble Bee Watch is a collaborative effort to track and conserve North America’s bumble bees. Because these animals are widely distributed the best way to keep track of them is with a group of volunteers across the country equipped with cameras. With any luck, you might help us to find remnant populations of rare species before they go extinct.