California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists Paperback – Illustrated, October 1, 2014

I am quite familiar with Gordon Frankie's website, helpabee.org, and was expecting similar information. I would say that the book and the website are complimentary. The first part of the book goes into quite a bit of detail about native bee speciess. Maybe it will become more useful to me after I've been growing flowers for bees awhile--for now I was mostly looking for information on what to grow. The plant encyclopedia doesn't seem as extensive as the plant lists on the website but it fleshes out the list on the website. There is a nice section of "recipes" for choosing plants for a bee garden, which is useful. And the short section on flower anatomy is an interesting read. But please also read the website if you're serious about creating a garden for bees--I don't feel like the book stands completely on its own in that regard.

Love this book. Gave it as a gift to a friend who is creating a country cottage garden in her yard and wants to attract pollinators. This book talks about which bees are attracted to which plants, which plants they like for each season, gardens to go see, great pictures, easy to read. Love this book.

This is an essential handbook for anyone interested in bees.Who knew that bees were such picky eaters?Who knew that California had so many wild bees that are critical to our environment?Who knew that it takes a variety of bees to pollinate any garden?This book identifies the bees and lists the plants they love, making it much easier to plant a garden that truly supports the environment.

Book came ahead of schedule. I found it as a good read and very resourceful with the information I wanted to gain from it. I’d recommend it to anybody looking on info for what to plant for bees.

A fabulous resource.... I am creating a workshop on native bees for children. This book is filled with resources I have used.

to have gotten this book just in time to help us identify species during all our summer bioblitzes!

Increased my knowledge - and ability to teach about our California native bees

This was a recommendation from Theodore Payne Foundation, as its focus is mostly on native bees, which I was most interested in. Great field guide (excellent photos), garden design manual and natural history rolled up into one volume. Definitely recommended for CA native gardeners and naturalists!

great book!