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50+ Flowers and Trees to grow in a Bee Friendly Garden
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April 30, 2020 · 22 Comments

50+ Flowers and Trees to grow in a Bee Friendly Garden

Beekeeping· Gardening tips· Nature

Attracting bees and pollinators to your garden is as simple as planting the right flowers, shrubs, and trees. This list includes over fifty types that you can plant for bees through all the seasons.

It can be a little overwhelming to understand what you should plant to create a bee-friendly garden. In the end, it comes down to avoiding pesticides and planting trees, shrubs, and flowers that are rich in pollen and nectar. It’s not just about summer flowers though.

Many pollinators hibernate in winter, but some like honeybees will fly out looking for food on sunny winter days. If there is forage about and the weather warm and dry enough, they can be flying around in January. Other insects begin waking up much earlier than you would expect, and many solitary bees and bumblebees emerge in early spring. Autumn is another important time for pollinators, especially honey bees. It’s then that they’re making last-minute preparations to collect food for winter.

Attracting bees and pollinators to your garden is as simple as planting the right flowers, shrubs, and trees. This list includes over fifty types that you can plant for bees through all the seasons #gardeningtips #beefriendly #organicgardening

What to plant in a bee-friendly garden

There’s a saying that a flowering tree is worth more than a field of wildflowers when it comes to supporting bees. If you have space to include a tree or shrub, it can make more of an impact than adding bulbs and flowers. Below are flowers and plants that are rich in bee food and that will bloom throughout the seasons. Try adding at least one for each season to your own bee-friendly garden. Planning for flowers all year round will help local bees and pollinators and benefit your garden.

Flowers for bees in Early Spring

Hazel, crocus, tansy, daphne, witch hazel, anemone, willow, dandelion, ivy (Hedera helix), elm, gorse, tulip-tree, Mahonia japonica, old species tulips (modern varieties have pollen grains that are too large), hellebore, forget-me-knots, cotoneaster, serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.), maples (Acer sp.)

Flowers for bees in Late Spring

Raspberry, blackberry, tulip-tree, oil-seed rape, white clover, flowering quince, sweet chestnut, apple, cherry, black currant, red currant, autumn-sown broad bean, hawthorn, sycamore, comfrey, kale, crab apple, rosemary, gooseberry, bluebells, linden, black locust, sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica)

Attracting bees and pollinators to your garden is as simple as planting the right flowers, shrubs, and trees. This list includes over fifty types that you can plant for bees through all the seasons #gardeningtips #beefriendly #organicgardening

Bees love foraging on Bluebells in spring

Summer flowers for bees

Viper’s bugloss, globe thistle, willowherb (fireweed), melissa balm, thyme, heather, sunflowers, borage, poppy, rudbeckia, lavender, catnip, mint, sage, coriander (cilantro), squash, pot marigolds, foxglove, geranium, hollyhock, clematis, milkweed, wild rose, spring-sown broad bean, oak (for honeydew), blackberry, marjoram, white bryony, cornflower, linden, medicinal valerian, lacy phacelia, germander speedwell, gladiolus, angelica, single dahlias, fennel, delphinium, crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia sp.)

Attracting bees and pollinators to your garden is as simple as planting the right flowers, shrubs, and trees. This list includes over fifty types that you can plant for bees through all the seasons #gardeningtips #beefriendly #organicgardening

Many garden herbs flowers, and when they do, you’ll find them covered in bees and other pollinators. Here’s a bee on a chive flower.

Autumn flowers for bees

Aster, goldenrod, blackberry, alliums (both garden varieties such as onion and garlic as well as ornamentals), anemone, chrysanthemum, cosmos, anise hyssop, viper’s bugloss, mahonia japonica, hemp agrimony, lemon verbena, verbena bonariensis, ivy (Hedera helix), hebe, sedum spectabile, delphinium, heather

Winter flowers for bees

Ivy (Hedera helix), winter heathers, snowdrops, crocus, cyclamen, primroses, strawberry tree, mahonia, Fatsia japonica, winter-flowering honeysuckle

Attracting bees and pollinators to your garden is as simple as planting the right flowers, shrubs, and trees. This list includes over fifty types that you can plant for bees through all the seasons #gardeningtips #beefriendly #organicgardening

Fruit trees like apple, pear, cherry, and plum, will buzz with bees in spring

Some flowers don’t produce food for bees

While there are many ways to encourage honey bee populations, probably the most satisfying way is growing plants that produce nectar and pollen. By planting flowers attractive to bees you’ll be sure to have an immediate impact since you’ll be able to see the bees hard at work in your garden. Honey bees fly up to one-and-a-half miles to collect food so even if you don’t know of a hive in your immediate vicinity you can be sure that there will one further afield that will find your garden.

Knowing which plants and flowers are best for honey bees can be confusing. You’d initially think that it’s big colorful and showy flowers to go for but these are usually the least appropriate. Pollen and nectar are at the center of the flower, generally, and flowers with a lot of petals block access. They’re bred to look pretty, not to help pollinators. Sometimes highly bred flowers lack the parts that produce nectar and pollen too.

Attracting bees and pollinators to your garden is as simple as planting the right flowers, shrubs, and trees. This list includes over fifty types that you can plant for bees through all the seasons #gardeningtips #beefriendly #organicgardening

Vipers Bugloss in a wildflower meadow

Wildflowers are bee-friendly flowers

Wildflowers are one of the most important sources of year-round forage. By planting them, and making room for flowering weeds, you are encouraging a host of wildlife including honey bees. Buying a good wildflower seed mix will ensure that the varieties that grow will be the right ones and that you’ll have flowers all year long. Vipers bugloss, meadowsweet, field poppies, yarrow, and evening primrose are some of the flowers you’ll find in these mixes and though they aren’t as flamboyant as conventional garden flowers they have their own special beauty and charm.

Another important thing you can do is allow dandelions to bloom early in the year. They’re a very important source of food for insects from February to April, when very few other flowers are blooming. The pollen and nectar in dandelions pack a wallop of energy for pollinators — though not complete in nutrition they do support bees massively. Think of them like potatoes — they’re a source of high-energy food that propels bees into spring and helps keep them from starving. If you’re concerned about them spreading, cut them shortly before they go to seed.

Attracting bees and pollinators to your garden is as simple as planting the right flowers, shrubs, and trees. This list includes over fifty types that you can plant for bees through all the seasons #gardeningtips #beefriendly #organicgardening

Wildflowers and the flowers of ‘weeds’ are rich in pollen and nectar

Why are honey bees important?

Honey bees are far more important to our everyday lives than most of us know. Aside from honey and beeswax, one in three bites of food we eat exists because of bees. Some crops need pollinators to stimulate flowers into producing food. This includes strawberries, coffee, almonds, apples, and lemons to name a few.

While some food is the direct product of pollination, other vegetables need it to reproduce. For example, you can grow carrots and parsnips without pollination. However, in order for them to produce seed for next year’s crops, they need insect pollination.

Although we’re much more aware of the threat to bees these days, they’re still threatened by lack of forage (food), inbreeding, commercial pesticides, climate change, parasites, and disease.

Attracting bees and pollinators to your garden is as simple as planting the right flowers, shrubs, and trees. This list includes over fifty types that you can plant for bees through all the seasons #gardeningtips #beefriendly #organicgardening

One plant that I grow every year for the bees is borage. You can eat the cucumber-flavored flowers too.

More ways to support bees

It may seem overwhelming but there are things that you can do to help save bees. Purchasing organic produce and local honey can make a huge impact, as can planting bee-friendly flowers. You could also become a beekeeper yourself, avoid using pesticides and herbicides, and petition the government for the protection of bees. Whatever routes you choose, know that you’ll be making a difference for pollinators, and the environment, everywhere.

Further reading

  • Save our Bees: how to ID and help Bees in the Garden
  • What to do if you spot a swarm of bees
  • Getting started with beekeeping
50+ Flowers to grow in a Bee Friendly Garden. Includes flowers that bloom throughout the year from January to December #flowergarden #honeybees #beefriendly #savethebees #wildlifegarden
50+ Flowers to grow in a Bee Friendly Garden. Includes flowers that bloom throughout the year from January to December #flowergarden #honeybees #beefriendly #savethebees #wildlifegarden

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rachel says

    July 13, 2018 at 8:54 am

    We’re having real problems here in Australia at the moment with people feeding our bees unnecessarily. I like your post because it’s all about educating people, and I was even confused with whether or not this was a good or bad thing initially. Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Cho says

    December 26, 2017 at 10:25 am

    I have a lot of vitex agnus castus seeds
    And I will plant them in the next year, and I will raise them to full bloom.
    But there was a problem.
    When I look at vitex agnus castus related articles and videos, I can see that only butterflies and bumble beets are attached to flowers
    I do not know if my beloved honey bee likes it
    If I plant 500-2000 vitex agnus castus, will bees be able to give me delicious honey?

    Reply
    • lovelygreens says

      December 29, 2017 at 11:47 am

      That’s a lot of Chaste Tree Berry! Remember that honeybees are best with a variety of plants and flowers that bloom throughout the season. If you grow only one type, the food it produces will be ready at once and the bees will go hungry at other times of the year.

      Reply
  3. Michelle Martinez says

    May 6, 2014 at 11:51 am

    Thanks rae. I found some Echium on Pinterest to add to my For the Honey Bees board. Nice list of plants for all seasons Tanya! I will be adding them to my board as well. Thank You all!

    Reply
  4. rae says

    September 20, 2013 at 10:21 pm

    I didn't see Echium on the list. The most unusual feature of Echium vulgare is the protection of the nectar inside the flower from vaporization (when it’s hot) or flushing away (when it rains). Additionally this plant produces nectar throughout the day unlike most plants which produce ectar for a short period of time. If the bees have a good access to Echium they can collect between 12-20 lbs of nectar a day. The honey does not crystllize for 9-15 months.

    Reply
    • A. Sanborn says

      January 27, 2016 at 10:47 am

      Is – ECHIUM VULGARE –

      a PERENNIAL? If so, what ZONE? Is it an INVASIVE? I have a 250 sq. ft. bed next to another 125 sq. ft. bed that we created for BEES & BUTTERFLIES last season. Now I’m concerned that maybe the Joe Pye Weed, Echinacea, Globe Thistle, Yarrow Rudebeckia, Lemon Thyme, etc… weren’t good choices? Maybe these aren’t large enough planting beds either.

      My Zone is 3 to 4 with a tempermental 5… if one’s fortunate, which I have been blessed! I’d love some imput from other BEE GARDENERS?

      Reply
  5. Kay says

    September 12, 2012 at 3:49 am

    You mentioned kale. Forgive my ignorance but mine doesn't flower. What am I missing?

    Reply
  6. The Green Lady says

    May 10, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    Great post Tanya. X

    Reply
  7. elaine rickett says

    May 9, 2012 at 8:21 am

    I hope I'm doing my bit Tanya – every year my bee-friendly plants increase – they are also Elaine friendly – it is what gardening is all about for me.

    Reply
    • Tanya @ Lovely Greens says

      May 10, 2012 at 11:40 am

      Elaine, the bees in your neighbourhood must love you! You have such a beautiful and natural garden that I'm sure it must be one of their favourite hang-outs.

      Reply
  8. Fran says

    May 9, 2012 at 7:15 am

    Great post. By helping the bees we are helping ourselves too, which is why my allotment association have given me permission to keep bees on my allotment. I am having some lessons on the farm at work with the detainees and the detainees are also building me a hive (there are some advantages to working in a detention centre!!!. Still raining here, no let up yet! xxx

    Reply
    • Tanya @ Lovely Greens says

      May 10, 2012 at 11:44 am

      Slave labour…cool! 😉 Joking aside, that's a marvelous way to get inmates involved in something both engaging and beneficial for society. I'll bet they're having a lot of fun helping you out too!

      So when are you planning on placing the hive on the allotment? I know how excited you must be! 🙂

      Reply
  9. allotments4you says

    May 9, 2012 at 6:25 am

    I've already started planting…though I don't think I'll be putting any O.S.R. in my garden…the farmers plant enough of that for all of us!!

    Obviously none of us know why the bees are less prolific, but I bet all that concrete we keep laying and all these 'fancy' low maintenance gardens aren't helping any!!!

    Reply
    • Tanya @ Lovely Greens says

      May 10, 2012 at 11:39 am

      I'm not a huge fan of oil seed rape but the bees LOVE it. Unfortunately the honey it produces tends to crystallise so beekeepers aren't as fond of it either.

      And I think you may be on to something with your theory on modern "gardening" 😉

      Reply
  10. Akannie says

    May 9, 2012 at 4:00 am

    We have lots of flowering plants and vegetables and fruits around here…thanks you for a lovely post–I'm going to copy and paste that list of seasonal stuff so I have a guide!

    Reply
    • Tanya @ Lovely Greens says

      May 10, 2012 at 11:37 am

      That's great Akannie! And it sounds like you're already a honey-bee haven 🙂

      Reply
  11. PioneerPreppy says

    May 8, 2012 at 11:08 pm

    I have found the best way to feed the bees with plantings around my neck of the woods is really volume. Honey bees anyway bumblers are solitary, but honey bees will often pass up small pockets of flowers to hit the "three 100 foot rows of lima beans" Ala Sunnybrook above. Also flowering trees even the non decorative types are a huge boon for honey bees.

    Aren't strawberries self pollinating now?

    Reply
    • Tanya @ Lovely Greens says

      May 10, 2012 at 11:36 am

      It makes sense that they like large swathes of plants…when a bee finds a good supply they come back to the hive and tell the rest of their sisters about it with a 'waggle-dance'.

      Strawberries can be self-pollinating but their yields aren't great if insects aren't helping them along. Also, if they're not pollinated by bees (or by hand) then the fruits tend to be a bit deformed looking – no doubt from a plant fertilising itself (inbreeding).

      Reply
  12. Sunnybrook Farm says

    May 8, 2012 at 1:40 pm

    You wouldn't really think of it as a bee plant but I had 3 100 foot rows of lima beans last year and the area sounded like a bee hive, they went nuts over the little flowers. I think beans are self pollinating but they must put out a good bee food.

    Reply
    • Tanya @ Lovely Greens says

      May 8, 2012 at 6:55 pm

      Bees LOVE beans Sunnybrook! I've just had a google and apparently Lima beans do self-pollinate but when bees are around helping in the pollination-party then your crops will be all the more bountiful.

      Reply
  13. Jo says

    May 8, 2012 at 11:44 am

    I try to think of bees when I'm considering a purchase for the garden. I try to buy single flowers now instead of doubles, I actually prefer more simple flowers actually so I think it suits me as well as them.

    Reply
    • Tanya @ Lovely Greens says

      May 8, 2012 at 6:52 pm

      That's wonderful Jo and I'll bet you have tons of bees buzzing around your garden 🙂

      Reply

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Tanya Anderson Lovely Greens Welcome to Lovely Greens. I'm Tanya and I share ideas on growing organic herbs, vegetables, and fruit and then creatively using them in the home, beauty, and kitchen. Learn more about Lovely Greens

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