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Plants with accessible pollen or nectar for bees to collect are amazing additions to our gardens or patio pots; this list of reliable plants aims to provide food for bees throughout the year (not just in summer). This will help ‘early rising’ bees who can wake up hungry on a warm day in February and also ensure there is plenty of food source available at the end of the season to help the bees get through winter.
There are many other bee friendly options but these are some of our ‘easy to grow’ favourites which will usually come back year after year!
Late winter / early Spring
Crocus bulbs – Cheerful vivid colours on short stems, perfect for pots or borders … even in lawns, hungry bees emerging after a long winter will be all over them!
Erica Carnea – (Winter Flowering Heathers), easy to grow, these evergreen low growing carpeting plants are smothered in flowers which can be a ‘Bee magnet’!
Spring
Alliums – these increasingly popular bulbs are easy to grow in borders and pots, often coming back year after year, the flower heads (usually shades of mauve but other colours are available) are attractive for us and bees!
Aquilegia - (Grannies Bonnet) easy to grow in sun or shade, hardy plants often coming back year after year with unusual exotic looking flowers which the bees can graze at their leisure!
Skimmia – Skimmia Rubella is the most popular variety of this compact evergreen shrub, clusters of red flower buds overwinter open up to white highly perfumed flowers in March / April which the bees will be enjoy visiting
Summer
Erysimum (particularly ‘Bowles Mauve’) – Masses of mauve flowers in open clusters on compact bushy plants, can keep on flowering for many months especially if you trim off dead flowers.
Lavender – The classic bee friendly shrub, loves a well-drained sunny spot, where bees will make a ‘bee-line’ for them!
Scabious – Another British classic ‘cottage garden’ plant with blue flowers (pink and white varieties also available) their open clusters of flowers are very inviting to bees, trim off dead flowers through summer to encourage more and more flowers
Autumn
Sedums – large heads of pink / red flowers on compact mounds make this easy to grow plant a reliable addition to any garden or patio pot, Bees love to snack on them towards the end of the year.
Asters (Michaelmas daisies) – Tough, easy to grow, plants provide a vivid show of colour well into autumn each year providing an ‘end of season supper’ for bees and butterflies.
