Corporate Headquarters
P.O. Box 266
1833 Park Lane
Burlington, WA 98233
Office: (360) 757-6053 / Fax: (360) 757-4143

Attracting Bees to Your Garden: How Gardeners Help Pollinators

Bees are essential to sustain our lives, in fact, one-third of the plants that provide us with food including vegetables and fruits, are pollinated by a number of different types of bees. There are a number of bees and flowering plants that have co-evolved needing each other for effective pollination as well as the sweet nectar. Humans and many of our farm animals also need these effective pollinators to yield healthy crops of vegetables, fruit, and grains. Over the years; however, agricultural practices have changed and evolved as our cities grow and expand resulting in loss of wild habitat for pollinators and bees. Unfortunately, as the topography changes, the bees as well as other pollinators are deprived of their food sources. Bees are an essential part of a healthy garden and it is in our best interest to not only protect their environment but also ensure a welcoming and healthy food supply for these little hardy workers who influence so much of our lives!

Collectively home gardeners could add thousands of acres for pollinators to call home. Best of all it is easy and truly rewarding!

To welcome bees into your garden, you should select the kind of flowers that attract them with nectar and pollen. Different pollinators are active at different times of the year, so include a variety of plants that bloom from early spring through late fall. To attract the full spectrum of pollinators, choose plants of various heights, including flowering trees and shrubs, and those with a range of flower shapes and sizes.

 

Here are some suggestions to get you started:

Plant wildflowers and native plants because bees and the flowers co-evolve and rely on each other for survival. While many wildflowers are considered weeds, planting them within your garden will attract the bees.

Colorful flowers including blue, purple, and yellow attract bees more often. Flat or shallow blossoms, such as daisies, zinnias, asters and Queen Anne’s lace, will attract the largest variety of bees. Long-tongued bees will be attracted to plants in the mint family, such as nepeta, salvia, oregano, mint and lavender. Long-tongued bumblebees are attracted to flowers with hidden nectar spurs, such as larkspur, monkshood, monarda, columbine and snapdragons.

Fragrance goes a long way attracting bees and other pollinators – and let’s face it – we are also attracted to the scents found in our flowerbeds!

Plant early spring flowers for bees who may have weathered a hard winter. It is important to also plant flowers that have a long flowering season providing bees with a continuous food supply.

No need to create a perfectly tidy flower garden because the pollinators need raw materials to create habitats that are sustainable and safe. Provide good nesting habitat by preserving a small brush pile, areas with dry grasses and reeds, and dead wood. A muddy area will provide essential nesting material for mason bees.

Mix up your flowers so different bees and pollinators are welcome. Plant large patches of the same plant in an area, or have a mixed planting with a few selected bee favorites. Also consider planting single flowers – one ring petals – they provide more nectar and pollen than double flowers.

Of course, we ask you to consider backyard beekeeping!

 

A Sample of flowers that Bees love:

Bee Balm (Monarda sp.)

Monarda is a popular perennial plant used in bee and butterfly gardens. Commonly known as Bee Balm its fragrant blossoms attract bees, hummingbirds, and other pollinators. Bee Balm is a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae, with over 15 species and over 50 different varieties.

Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)

It is quite natural for hordes of wild bees to throng to these herbaceous perennials that are natives of the American continents. These wonderful splashes of vivid yellow throughout prairies are a lovely addition to any garden. These flowers are great late season flowers that pollinators will love to visit. Mostly considered a weed and falsely thought to cause allergies, goldenrod is not as popular in gardens as they should be. They can brighten your garden from midsummer to mid-fall, dutifully coming back year after year.

Lavender (Lavendula augustifolia)

This aromatic plant is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae and native to Europe, now popular in temperate regions worldwide. Many members of the genus are cultivated extensively in temperate climates as ornamental plants for garden and landscape use, for use as culinary herbs, and also commercially for the extraction of essential oils. Besides attracting bees, the pretty lavender blooms that come out from late spring to summer can perfume the home and garden and flavor your dishes. Purple-colored blooms may be the most well-known, but they also come in pink and white.

Agapanthus 

Agapanthus is a landscape staple in warm-winter regions. This easy-to-grow perennial produces colorful globes of blue or white trumpet-shape flowers in summer and fall. Its evergreen strappy leaves add texture to beds, borders, and containers. While this plant will only flower for about one month of the year in early summer, they provide much needed food at the height of the bee breeding season when the hive numbers are growing and more bees are out foraging to feed their babies and put down food stores while they can. This is one hardy and drought tolerant plant.

Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus/ C. sulphureus)

Bees love these easy-care annuals that can be used to fill any unattended part of the garden with color and life. The lacy leaves are just as pretty as the flowers that appear in loose spikes. C. bipinnatus is a Mexican native bearing flowers in white and various shades of pink while C. sulphureus has yellow spectrum, from lemon yellow to deep orange.

Salvia (Salvia spp.)

Salvias and bees are made for each other. Their tiny flowers on long spikes carry quite a bit of nectar to attract all the bees in the neighborhood. When these herbaceous plants are covered in pink and purple flowers, the buzzing of bees can be heard from far away.

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

This perennial native to the eastern United States is guaranteed to draw bees and butterflies to your garden all through its flowering season extending from midsummer to late fall. Lower growing than lavenders or rosemary, they provide another layer of height to your bee attracting garden. The pink-purple flowers are used for preparing cold and flu remedies, so it is an additional reason to plant them in your garden.

Catmint (Nepeta spp.)

Catmint is not just for cats; bees are just as crazy about these fragrant flowers that cover the plant in summer and fall. The drought tolerant and deer resistant perennial is free-flowering and low-maintenance. The flowers can be pink, blue, purple or white. Some varieties have attractive grey, gold or chartreuse foliage.

Sunflowers (Helianthus spp.)

Sunflowers with their large central discs provide ample opportunity for bees to forage for nectar and pollen. You can grow native sunflower species almost anywhere in the country as long as they are planted after the last frost.

Crocus (Crocus spp.)

This is another early flowering bulb that can provide the much-needed sustenance to bees. Coming out in jewel-like blues and purples and cheery yellows, these little flowers can have a great impact on the bees as well as the landscape.

There are a number of other flowering plants that will provide much needed nourishment and building material for bees. If you are not ready to host your own hive you can still create a beautiful, aromatic, and welcoming garden for bees! Visit your local Country Store for seed packets, starters, and a host of information on how to build a better garden. Country Stores also carry a great line of gardening tools, soils, and decorative outdoor goods to make your spring … literally spring into summer!

Contributed by Selene Muldowney, Marketing Assistant

--> -->