I live in Colorado (zone 5) and my granddaughter lives in Washington (zone 7). We both cannot tolerate bees and yellow jackets, but love flowers and plants. What type of plants and flowers can we plant in pots outside. I love hibiscus also, but cant seem to make them grow in Colorado. Would love some help with this.

I can't tell for certain what she might be by the image, but the description fits that of one of the solitary wasps, perhaps the Cicada Killer wasp judging by how large you say it is. There are several species of solitary wasps, and many of them dig holes in the ground for nests. She will defend her territory vigorously, and can sting. Can't help you with the beetle without a picture, or a very good description.

Thank you for your responses! We believe we have narrowed them down to some type of leaf-cutter bee. They are good pollinators, apparently well outperforming honey bees. They also appear to be pretty harmless, normally biting instead of stinging and only when handled. I attacked them with a hose when I was out squash bug collecting and they just flew off, didnt attack. There is a pretty good match here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/127693 http://bugwomanlondon.com/2014/07/19/elecampane-and-the-leaf-cutter-bee/

Jennie, if it is dappled shade like I have under our big old oaks, lots of plants will do fine. Although I don't usually plant with seed, you can grow aquilegia (columbine), tiarella (foam flower), digitalis (foxglove-biennial,won't bloom first year), sweet woodruff, hosta (easier to buy the plant actually), hellebore (I haven't seen bees around mine, but I would think any flower would attract them), dicentra (bleeding heart-goes dormant in heat of summer). Anemones will bloom in the fall here in northern VA, but I am not sure how easy it is to plant them by seed. If you put in a few shrubs and then sow the perennials, you should have a wonderful garden by next year. If you want, you can also plant understory trees like dogwoods, serviceberries (shrub-like), etc. Also, check out the native plants site I've linked. You'll have the most success with plants that are adapted to your area. I hope it takes you to the part shade/shade plants that I searched for. You can narrow the search even more if you want. If you live in northern VA, a resource is Green Spring Gardens. Beautiful gardens and lots of knowledgeable people to help! Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: natives