There will be lots happening at the Haven this year for bee, plant, and nature lovers. In addition to the garden events listed below, we'll also be at other locations: we'll have a display at the Yolo Basin Foundation's Duck Days on February 21, and I'll be speaking about water-wise pollinator gardening on March 11 at the City of Woodland's Water-Wise Wednesdays program. On April 18 I will have a native bee display and bee gardening information at Wildflower Wonders, the spring plant sale of the Sacramento Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society.

Keep those bee gardens growing!

March 28

The California Center for Urban Horticulture's Create a Living Landscape workshop will conclude with a tour of the Haven. We'll have bee houses for sale to help support the garden.

Cavity-nesting bee house painted with a flower design. Houses like this will be for sale at many of the Haven's events this year.

April 11

The Haven will be a stop on the Gardens Gone Native tour sponsored by the Sacramento chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Docents will be on hand from 10am to 3pm to answer questions about the garden's native plants and native bees.

April 23. Please note this is a revised date for this event.

Native bees lunchtime drop-in. New at the Haven this year are lunchtime drop-in days, each featuring a topic related to the garden with docents present to answer questions or give informal tours. Stop by anytime between 12 and 1:30pm to view native bees and their host plants; native bee houses will also be for sale.

May 2

The Haven is five years old! Join us between 10am and 2pm for a fifth anniversary celebration. There will be informal tours and lectures, an observation honey bee hive, and lots more.

Garden visitors at an open house in 2014. Join us for one of 2015's many events to learn about bee gardening.

May 8

National Public Gardens Day open house. Join us between 5:30 and 7pm for informal tours, information about bee watching and ID, and an observation honey bee hive. We'll have bee houses for sale and free plants (while they last) to get your bee garden started.

May 9

The Haven will host a reception as part of the Keeping Bees Healthy symposium sponsored by the Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute and the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. The symposium is intended for a general audience at the level of high school students and up; student registration is only $15!

June 19

National Pollinator Week open house. Join us between 5:30 and 7pm for informal tours, information about bee watching and identification, and an observation honey bee hive. We'll have bee houses for sale and free zinnia seeds (while they last) to help your bee garden grow well into the fall.

Honey bee, Apis mellifera in zinnia flower. Zinnias are easy to grow and will bloom until frost, providing important fall bee forage.

July 17

Native ants lunchtime drop-in. New at the Haven this year are lunchtime drop-in days, each featuring a topic related to the garden with docents present to answer questions or give informal tours. Stop by anytime between 12 and 1:30pm to view and learn about native ants. Like bees, ants are social insects with amazing biology and life histories.

September 25

Honey bees lunchtime drop-in. New at the Haven this year are lunchtime drop-in days, each featuring a topic related to the garden with docents present to answer questions or give informal tours. Stop by anytime between 12 and 1:30pm to view honey bees and their fall host plants as well as an observation bee hive.

October 2

Fall open house. Join us between 5:30 and 7pm for informal tours, information about bee watching and identification, and an observation honey bee hive. We'll have bee houses for sale to help support the garden.