How's your front yard looking?

A little bit brown due to the drought? Thinking of replacing some of your plants with drought-tolerant ones? And hoping to attract some bees, butterflies and other wildlife?

You're in luck. The UC Davis Arboretum is planning its next public plant sale this Saturday, Oct. 11. The theme is, appropriately enough, "The New Front Yard."

The plant sale will take place in the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive. It's open to members only from 9 to 11 a.m. (but if you're not a member, you can join at the door), and it's open to the general public from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

UC Davis Arboretum officials point out that many homeowners want to replace "high-water use plants with low-water alternatives" and they're going to help you. "We are going to have the area's largest selection of attractive, drought-tolerant, easy-care, region-appropriate plants including lots of California natives and Arboretum All-Stars."

They've published a list of some "attractive, region-appropriate plants that save water and support wildlife," complete with botanical names and photos. (Download PDF)

They include California buckeye, manzanitas, California pipevine, narrow leaf milkweed, Frikart's aster, Caliifornia aster, coyote brush, creeping Oregon grape, Blonde ambition blue grama grass, western spicebush, concha Ceanothus, Ray Hartman's California lilac, western red bud, Island mountain mahogany, California fuchsia, California buckwheat, St. Catherine's lace, coast silktassel, salt heliotrope, toyon, purple lantana, Goodwin Creek lavender, cape weed, monkey flower, deergrass, Hopley's purple oregano, Santa Margarita foothill penstemon, hollyleaf cherry, blue oak, California coffeeberry, pink chaparral currant, flowering currant, Santa Catalina Island currant, white sage, Cleveland sage, autumn sage, Santa Barbara sage, Cascade Creek California goldenrod, alkali sacaton, yellow autumn crocus and Roger's red grape.

Those are just a few of the plants they're offering for the plant sale.

Ah, so many choices, so little space. And one of the best parts? The bees and butterflies and other pollinators they attract.

Our cat used to catch them.

She'd bring them into the house and watch them flutter at our feet. 

The white-lined sphinx moth (Hyles lineata) flies during the day and at night. It's not a graceful flier. It bumbles along like Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose on empty.

With a wing span between 2.7 and 3.9 inches long, it's easy to notice as it nectars on salvia (sage), honeysuckle, larkspur, columbines and other flowers. Some folks know it by its nickname, "the hummingbird moth."

A member of the Sphingidae family, the white-lined sphinx moth is found throughout most of the United States, plus Mexico, Central America and Canada. It's also been found in other parts of the world, including the West Indies.

It's definitely a delight to see! (But preferably not in the cat's mouth.)

Sage advice: If you're thinking of planting a bee friendly garden, think sage.

Also commonly known as salvia, this bee friendly plant belongs to the mint family, Lamiaceae. The Salvia genus includes some 900 species, so your choices are good.

Red, pink, blue and purple are common; yellow and white, less common. Carpenter bees and bumble bees like to pierce the tubular calyx for the sweet nectar. Sage is also a favorite of honey bees, hover flies and hummingbirds.

For a really stunning sage, check out the sapphire-blue Salvia guaranitica, native to southeastern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina.

You'll see the intense blue flowers long before you notice the honey bees. 

Bees?

What bees? 

This week (June 22-28) is National Pollinator Week, and what better time to celebrate the honey bee than now?

The White House Victory Garden, planted the first day of spring on part of the South Lawn, now has thousands of new residents: honey bees (Apis mellifera). 

The two bee hives are a joy to see.  America's First Family has First Hives in its First Garden with First Bees that will soon provide First Honey. The "commander-in-chef" will add First Honey to the White House favorite recipes. 

Frankly, the South Lawn has never looked so good. The Rose Garden, where many a press conference takes place, pales in comparison. The Victory Garden is a victory for sustainable agriculture, nutrition, education, the economy and the environment--not to mention the incredible feeling of accomplishment and the surpassed taste of freshly picked vegetables.

UC Davis' counterpart to a Victory Garden is the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden to be planted this fall near the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Faciity. A Sausalito team submitted the winning design. The haven is expected to be dedicated in October. Honey bees will find a year-around food source, while visitors (the two-legged kind) will be able to savor the garden and glean new ideas for their own gardens.

Almond, apple, black elderberry, California buckwheat, California honeysuckle, coyote brush, lavender, Oregon grape, persimmon, plum, sage, tower of jewels...A veritable bee smorgasbord.

It will be National Pollinator Week every week and the honey bee will be the Poster Child every day.

That's the least we can do for the most important of all insects.