If you love to watch pollinators at work in your garden--especially the honey bees and the bumble bees--first you have to provide the plants. 

Promise yourself to plant pollinator plants periodically. 

But which ones?

The UC Davis Arboretum staff gets asked that question a lot. As part of its 75th anniversary celebration, the Arboretum has scheduled a Member Appreciation Sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 9 at its plant sales nursery on Garrod Drive.

Folks can become members on the spot, and the privileges are many. "Members of the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum and the Davis Botanical Society not only receive 10 percent off their plant sale purchases but they also receive an additional $10 of of their purchases at this sale," said Missy Gable, public engagement manager (mjgable@ucdavis.edu).

The Arborteum prides itself on providing "the area’s largest selection of attractive, low-water, easy-care, region-appropriate plants, including Arboretum All-Stars."  Live music, free refreshments and children's activities are also planned that day. 

Three more spring public plant sales are upcoming (folks can become members then, too): 

• Saturday, April 6 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Sunday, April 28 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Saturday, May 19 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (clearance sale) 

Here are some of the pollinator plants that will be available for sale:

• Salvia clevelandii, Cleveland sage
• Saponaria x lempergii ‘Max Frei’, hybrid soapwort
• Leucophyllum frutescens, cenizo
• Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Mozart’, Ed Carman’s rosemary
• Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’, coronation gold yarrow
• Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Little Spire’, little spire Russian Sage
• Dasylirion wheeleri, desert spoon
• Salvia chamaedryoides, Mexican blue sage
• Teucrium fruticans ‘Azureum’, azure bush germander
• Epilobium canum, California fuchsia
• Origanum ‘Betty Rollins’, Betty Rollins oregano
• Salvia microphylla, Graham’s sage

The plants above are among those showcased at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus.

And, have you heard about the UC Davis Arboretum Shovel Drive? At each of the plant sales, you can donate an old shovel, spade or trowel to the Arboretum for a campus/city sculpture project!

Just think, the garden tools you not longer need or want will be sculpted into something quite spectacular.