Wolcott Garden Treasures
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Bee Gardening
With colony collapse becoming more and more worrysome, bee gardening is a rewarding and important endeavor. This guide will help you understand how and what to plant, as well as teach you the benefits of a having a bee garden at your home.
Why a bee garden? Bees are the primary pollinators of plant life all over the globe. Without them, our vegetative food supply would likely not exist, thus animal life could not exist. Unfortunately, bee species around the world are declining from a disorder known as Colony Collapse. This mysterious disorder is popping up in both farmed and wild bee populations, and it may eventually threaten our own food supply. Bee gardening attracts the local bee population and gives them an area to thrive and to pollinate the way nature intended. Hopefully, creating hospitable environments will help dwindling bee population recover.
Special considerations: almost as important as the types of flowers chosen are the quantity & diversity. Research has shown that gardens with ten or more types attractive plants receive the most visits, even resulting in increased interest in plants that are typically not bee-attracting. With bee gardening, the more attractive plants you can include, the better your results will be. Research has also indicated that less manicured gardens are generally preferred to tidier ones. Finally, bee gardens should never be treated with pesticides.
Timing: it's important that attractive plants be blooming throughout the season, beginning in spring. This will ensure that seasonal bees always have a selection of blooming plants to choose from. When choosing your plants, make sure you have a variety of bloom times that will overlap throughout the spring and summer.
Weeding: keep in mind that clover blossoms and dandelions provide a good source of nectar and pollen to bees, so while you may see them as unwanted weeds, they do improve the quality of your bee garden. Consider leaving dandelions undisturbed until just before they go to seed.
Mulching: while mulch is a great natural alternative to chemical weed killers, it also discourages bee nesting. Many bees create their homes in ground nests surrounded by bare soil, so the mulch is a huge deterrent. Because bees tend to prefer the more "natural" garden, consider setting aside an area that will exist more naturally with little or no pruning or weeding, and without pesticides or mulch. While it won't have a manicured look, there is a certain beauty to a wild-growing patch, even within a carefully landscaped space.
SPRING PLANTS:
Why a bee garden? Bees are the primary pollinators of plant life all over the globe. Without them, our vegetative food supply would likely not exist, thus animal life could not exist. Unfortunately, bee species around the world are declining from a disorder known as Colony Collapse. This mysterious disorder is popping up in both farmed and wild bee populations, and it may eventually threaten our own food supply. Bee gardening attracts the local bee population and gives them an area to thrive and to pollinate the way nature intended. Hopefully, creating hospitable environments will help dwindling bee population recover.
Special considerations: almost as important as the types of flowers chosen are the quantity & diversity. Research has shown that gardens with ten or more types attractive plants receive the most visits, even resulting in increased interest in plants that are typically not bee-attracting. With bee gardening, the more attractive plants you can include, the better your results will be. Research has also indicated that less manicured gardens are generally preferred to tidier ones. Finally, bee gardens should never be treated with pesticides.
Timing: it's important that attractive plants be blooming throughout the season, beginning in spring. This will ensure that seasonal bees always have a selection of blooming plants to choose from. When choosing your plants, make sure you have a variety of bloom times that will overlap throughout the spring and summer.
Weeding: keep in mind that clover blossoms and dandelions provide a good source of nectar and pollen to bees, so while you may see them as unwanted weeds, they do improve the quality of your bee garden. Consider leaving dandelions undisturbed until just before they go to seed.
Mulching: while mulch is a great natural alternative to chemical weed killers, it also discourages bee nesting. Many bees create their homes in ground nests surrounded by bare soil, so the mulch is a huge deterrent. Because bees tend to prefer the more "natural" garden, consider setting aside an area that will exist more naturally with little or no pruning or weeding, and without pesticides or mulch. While it won't have a manicured look, there is a certain beauty to a wild-growing patch, even within a carefully landscaped space.
SPRING PLANTS:
- Barberry (provides nectar to digger bees & osmia)
- Lavender (provides nectar to honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, leaf cutter bees and mason bees)
- Nepeta/Catmint (provides nectar to honey bees, bumble bees, osmia and anthidia)
- Sunflower, Bush (provides nectar and pollen to halictids, melissodes, leaf cutter bees, mason bees and honey bees)
- Western Redbud (provides nectar to carpenter bees & osmia)
- Yarrow, Common (provides pollen to halictids)
SUMMER PLANTS:
- Agastache (provides nectar to bumble bees & honey bees)
- Black-eyed Susan (provides pollen and nectar to melissodes, leaf cutter bees, mason bees, and halictids)
- Cucurbitaceae - pumpkins, squash & zucchini (provide pollen and nectar to honey bees and squash bees)
- Coneflower/Echinacea - purpurea variety (provides pollen & nectar to melissodes, leaf cutter bees, mason bees and halictids)
- Gaillardia/Blanket Flower (provides pollen and nectar to honey bees, leaf cutter bees, mason bees and melissodes)
- Goldenrod (provides pollen and nectar to halictids, leaf cutter bees, mason bees and honey bees)
- Lavender (provides nectar to honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, leaf cutter bees and mason bees)
- Nepeta/Catmint (provides nectar to honey bees, bumble bees, osmia and anthidia)
- Rosemary (provides nectar to honey bees, halictids, leaf cutter bees and mason bees)
- Pincushion Flower/Scabiosa (provides pollen and nectar to melissodes and honey bees)
- Rosemary (provides nectar to honey bees, halictids, leaf cutter bees and mason bees)
- Sage, Bog (provides nectar to carpenter bees, small carpenter bees, honey bees, leaf cutter bees and mason bees)
- Sage, Germander (provides nectar to bumble bees, honey bees and anthidia)
- Sage, Russian (provides nectar to honey bees, bumble bees, leaf cutter bees and mason bees)
- Spearmint (provides nectar to various small bee groups)
- Spirea, Blue Mist (provides pollen and nectar to honey bees, anthidia, leaf cutter bees & mason bees)
- Sunflower (provides pollen and nectar to leaf cutter bees, mason bees, melissodes, honey bees and bumble bees)
- Sunflower, Bush (provides nectar and pollen to halictids, melissodes, leaf cutter bees, mason bees and honey bees)
- Thyme (provides nectar to a variety of small bees, as well as leaf cutter bees and mason bees)
- Tickseed/Coreopsis (provides pollen & nectar to leaf cutter bees, mason bees, melissodes and halictids)
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