Bee-Friendly Plants & Flowers
Do you remember day trips in the summer as a child when the windscreen was full of bug road kill by the end of the day? Well, the Big Bug Count in 2004 by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) revealed just one squashed bug on a car windscreen for every five miles driven. So, today we don’t need so much windscreen wash but the lack of bug life is an urgent signal that vital polinators and a key part of the food chain are disappearing.
Honeybees are under attack from man destroying their habitat. Perfect looking lawns are sterile wastelands for bees and many beautiful flowers contain little pollen and nectar.
A Call For Action – “Flower Power”
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“No” |
“Yes” |
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In the BBC programme “”Bees, Butterflies & Blooms”, broadcast in February 2012, Sarah Raven, backed by evidence, claims “One of the main reasons our pollinators are under threat is due to their poor health and nutrition. A lack of a rich and varied supply of pollen and nectar throughout the year to feed our insect workforce is leaving them vulnerable to the effects of pesticides and parasites and threatening some species with extinction. “
She goes on to make a call for action “If we all make small changes in our local areas and grow more wildflowers and insect-friendly plants, then we can lend a strong helping hand to our bees, butterflies and pollinating bugs. Together, we could help to reverse the trend, maybe stop extinctions and secure a future for our threatened pollinating insects.” I reckon she knows what she’s talking about. And I reckon it’s time for some action!
So, if you have fond memories of those bug-splattered windscreens, care about our environment and worry about the possibility of not having anything to drizzle on your crumpets, then it’s time to do something. Say “no to the patio”, “don’t do decking”, “no more lawn”. And yes, unashamedly, and without the need for a moustache, shout “flower power”.
I confess, before I started beekeeping, all that I knew about flowers was my nearly-wife didn’t like the ones from the garage. But now, I could probably hold my own over a pint with Alan Titchmarsh.
Bee-friendly flowers
Bees need flowers throughout the foraging period from March to September. It’s a good idea to have nectar and pollen-rich plants in flower at any one time during this period. The nectar feeds the adult bee and the pollen feeds the brood.
Bees love the following flowers:
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Spring flowers: Bluebell, bugle, crab apple, crocus, daffodil, flowering cherry and currant, forget-me-not (Myosotis), hawthorn, hellebore (Helleborus corsicus, H. foetidus), pulmonaria, pussy willow, rhododendron, rosemary, viburnum, thrift (Armeria maritima). |
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Early-summer flowers: Aquilegia, astilbe, campanula, comfrey, everlasting sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius), fennel, foxglove, geranium, potentilla, snapdragon, stachys, teasel, thyme, verbascum. |
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Late-summer flowers: Angelica, aster, buddleia, cardoon, cornflower (Centaurea), dahlia (single-flowered), delphinium, eryngium, fuchsia, globe thistle (Echinops), heather, ivy, lavender, penstemon, scabious, sedum, Verbena bonariensis. |
And the UK Herb Society believe the following herbs are bee-friendly: Angelica, Bergamot, Betony, Borage, Catmint, Chicory, Chives, Clover, Comfrey, Common Poppy, Cornflower, Dahlias, Dill, Echinacea, Evening Primrose, Fennel, Feverfew, Foxglove, Goldenrod, Heartsease, Horehound (White), Hyssop, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Lungwort, Marjoram, Mint, Motherwort, Mullein, Nasturtium, Pot Marigold, Rosemary, Sage, Savory (Summer & Winter), Soapwort, Sunflower, Tansy, Teasel, Thistle, Thyme, Tobacco Plant, Valerian, Viper’s Bugloss, Wild clary, Woad, Yarrow.
Where To Buy Seeds
Amazon is as good as place as any. I have done the hard work and selected seeds based on most bee-friendly and best-value.
Wild flower meadow seeds |
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Bee-friendly herbs |
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Spring flowers |
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Early-summer flowers |
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Late-summer flowers |
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Recommended gardening books* |
* The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) book is the ”gardening bible”.
Adopt A Hive
If you don’t have anywhere to sew your seeds, you can always adopt a beehive (and essentially sponsor a beekeeper). The scheme opposite, makes a great present and:
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Please let us all know of further bee-friendly plants and seeds.
If you want to know more about the plight of the honeybee and the benefits of planting meadows, please visit my honeybees page and especially watch the video at the end. Or for some lighter reading you might like to read some of my favourite posts.
Hi! I love your site on bees! I am writing because I am a kinder teacher in Denver and am in need of some guidance. We are actually teaching a unit on bees and metamorphosis and the students have decided that they would like to plant a garden that will attract bees, (we are also writing letters to the district to request that they allow a bee box on school property, but that will probably take a little longer). I saw that you have a list of flowers above that bees love, but I was wondering if you would be able to tell me which ones are seeds (not bulbs that needed to be planted in the fall), which ones are perennials so that our kinders next year will be able to plant a new garden without previous years coming up, and if you think they will be successful in Denver? Thank you so much for your time! I have become so excited about bees that I think I may get a bee box of my own!