While my recommendation is to never use pesticides in your garden, your options are not as clear when you buy new plants. Most plants are not labeled as to what (if any) pesticides have been used.
I recently talked to a plant producer and they were very honest about what they did. They said that they do use neonics, but only on a reactive basis. They don’t use Neonics on a proactive basis, but if an area is infested, they will use the pesticides. It all comes down to economics. They have a lot of money invested in plants and need to protect their investment. They also indicated that because they use Neonics at times, that they had to take off the bee and butterfly logo in their catalogs.
The consumer will continue to have trouble buying plants unless they know who has grown the plants and know what their methods are.
The Xerces Society has an article titled, “Are Neonicotinoids Killing Bees?” PDF – here
I’ll continue to post articles about this situation below.
- US News – May 2016 – America’s bees had another tough and deadly winter, probably because of mites
- What is a neonicotinoid?
Butterfly Gardening 