What the bees like in my garden

July 12, 2012

I have walked around the garden with my camera to see what the bees are enjoying.  Some pics have a bee in them to prove they truly like this flower but you will have to take my word on the others.  This will give the gardener readers an idea of what to plant if you are interested in attracting honey bees.

Bees love blue-purple coloured flowers the most but there are lots of other flowers they will go to.  The oddest thing is that they don't go to the plant that is named bee-balm.  Perhaps they are confused by the fact that it is also named bergamot, monarda or Oswega tea...the leaves are used to make Earl Grey tea and certainly I can smell that  when I rub the leaves.

Monarda or bergamot or Oswega tea or bee-balm

Other purple plants that they do love are salvia, sage, basil, oregano, chives, thyme, echinacea, milk weed, anise hyssop, Russian sage and perennial geranium.  There are tons more but these are what are in my garden right now.

Sage

Anise hyssop--they love it!

Perennial geranium

Thyme

Echinacea

Milkweed...also loved by Monarch butterflies

Oregano

Salvia with a butterfly (no idea what kind)

So many other flowers are visited by the bees such as the hydrangea bush, the trumpet vine, butterfly bush, spirea bush, cosmos, euphorbia and hostas to name a few.  The best plant for bees is clover...red, white and yellow.  Clover has very nutritious pollen and great nectar.  People love clover honey...it is very light in flavour and almost white in colour.  Planting clover instead of grass is a great idea...not only for the bees but also because this plant puts nitrogen back into the soil.

White clover

Red trumpet vine

Hosta--Elegans

Euphorbia in a pot with geraniums

Cosmos

Hydrangea

Mullein flower

Mullein stand

They don't seem to like day lilies and dahlias but I love them so I will continue to plant them in my garden.

During my walk we had a flash thunder shower (thank fully it filled all the rain barrels).   Here is a photo of the day lilies so despised by the bees and also one of  graffitti on a train across the street.   The word "dark" seemed to connect with the storm.

Daylily

After the storm

The rain barrels are almost empty again and the grass is getting crispy.  I hope that the flowers are still producing nectar and pollen for the bees to collect.  Drink lots of fluids and find a shady, cool spot to get away from that unrelenting blue sky!