Award-winning author, biologist and pollinator conservationist Heather Holm will join us for an online talk about attracting bees and beneficial insects with native plants followed by a Q&A session. Her books include Pollinators of Native Plants (2014), Bees (2017), which won six book awards including the 2018 American Horticultural Society Book Award, and the most recently published, Wasps (February 2021).

Heather will focus on the positive impact of insects in our landscapes by discussing how native plants can be selected to attract specific bees and beneficial insects including predatory and parasitic wasps, beetles, flies, true bugs, and lacewings. Learn about the predator-prey relationships of these flower-visiting beneficial insects and how they help keep problem insect populations in balance. The life cycles, diversity, and nesting habitat of native bees will also be covered along with examples of native plants for different site conditions.

Heather is a National Honorary Director of Wild Ones. She also serves on the board of the Friends of Cullen Nature Preserve and Bird Sanctuary, a 501(c)3 non-profit. In her spare time, Heather is an active community supporter, writing grants and coordinating neighborhood volunteer landscape restoration projects. Currently, she is working on three projects with volunteers, restoring approximately ten acres of city-owned park land in her neighborhood for pollinators and people.