Thinking globally and acting locally, Bee City USA(opens in a new tab) provides a framework for communities to work together to conserve native pollinators by increasing the abundance of native plants, providing nest sites, and reducing the use of pesticides. On May 7, 2015, Hendersonville passed a resolution to become a Bee City USA affiliate, making the City the 7th Bee City USA in the Nation. Founder and executive director of Bee City USA Phyllis Stiles added, “Of the cities that have applied to date, Hendersonville’s process was the most intentional and inclusive. You are truly a model for other cities to follow.”
Plan your own pollinator-friendly adventure! This ongoing self-guided trail is your guide to eco-friendly gardens, green spaces, food, and art initiatives by the City of Hendersonville that highlight the importance of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.
Be part of our Bee City USA program and join the millions of people taking initiative to increase pollinator conservation. Our City parks need your help!
Native Plant Species List, Suppliers, and Landscapers
Each year, the City of Hendersonville maintains several pollinator gardens throughout the City as part of our Bee City USA initiative. These sites are also included in the Hendersonville Pollinator Trail for the public to visit.
Planted in 2024, this is a 1/4 acre pollinator garden located at Four Seasons Boulevard. Plants include six trees including flowering dogwood, sourwood, and serviceberry, 43 flowering shrubs including mountain laurel, and hundreds of flowers including butterfly weed, coneflowers, salvia and Joe Pye weed.
These gardens feature pollinator-friendly perennials, herbs, and trees which serves as a working demonstration plot for the community. Plants are labeled so that visitors can reference the types of plants they may install in their own gardens and yards to protect and nourish pollinators.
Hendersonville’s Main Street is a linear tree-lined park that supports our pollinator friends. A walk along both sides of the street allows you to enjoy flowering trees, native shrubs, and colorful flowers. You’ll see flowering magnolias, smoke tree, and fringe tree along with grasses and shrubs such as laurels and azalea.
Over 80 trees are planted here along with 7 raised beds along Bearcat Loop. Among these plantings you’ll find pawpaw, sourwood, carolina silverbell as well as perennial favorites including milkweed, mountain mint, goldenrod, cardinal flower, black-eyed susan, joe-pye weed and more.
Completed in 2024, the Brooklyn Creek restoration project combined ecological restoration with community benefit by enhancing Sullivan Park, increasing habitat diversity, and providing long-term stormwater management improvements. Pollinator plants include Narrowleaf Mountain mint, Black-eyed Susan, Showy Goldenrod, Zigzag Spiderwort, Golden Zizia, Silky Dogwood, Silky Willow, Black Willow, Carolina Willow, Ninebark, River Birch, Sycamore, Black Gum, and many more.
Before & After:
This community garden is scheduled to be completed summer 2024 with an expansion and revitalization effort that will include pollinator beds, blueberry bushes, fruit trees, and more pollinator friendly plants, as well as a gathering space all open to the public. The Green Meadows Community, originally called Brooklyn is a historic black neighborhood established in the late 19th century that grew into a thriving community being the center of local black life and culture. To preserve and honor the legacy of the original community, this garden is named the Brooklyn Community Garden.
The Sustainability Demonstration Station, lead by the Environmental Sustainability Board features multiple sustainability practices community members can implement at their own homes. The site focuses on composting but also includes several pollinator beds
