What plants/shrubs?

[Samsq]

I would like to develop a garden habitat suited for the honey bees.

Can you advise me on which flowers/plants shrubs are best suited for honey bees.

Also, am I too late planting now to be of benefit to the bees for this year? As you may have gathered I'm not really a gardener but would like to assist the bees where I can.

All advice will be gratefully received.

Sam

[johan]

Plant a few sunflowers against a wall somewhere. Nectar for the bees, lovely to look at and seed for the birds during winter.

Lavender looks lovely and are very hardy, likewise rosemary which can be used in cooking.

Some Michaelmas Daisy (Aster novae-belgii) provide some lovely flowers late in the year with the added benefit of nectar and a butterfly attractant.

Lemon Balm (melissa officinalis). Make sure its in a well contained corner. Otherwise a lovely herb with a beautiful smell.

Thyme. Thyme tea is good for sore throats.

A good time to plant some Poached Egg (limnanthes douglasii) to overwinter.

And some poppies. I know the bees are working poppies when they bring back grey pollen.

Hope the few plants help. Plenty more to be found. http://www.englishplants.co.uk/bees.html

[Samsq]

That's a great help. Thank you :)

[beean]

I second all the above, and particularly the poached egg plant: low growing, with pretty foliage (sort of ferny) will self seed in the same spot, lots of flowers, and a bee-magnet.
Also cotoneaster: little white flowers in late spring/early summer which the bees love, with loads of red berries over the winter. There are lots of different types, so you should be able to find one that fits. I have a weeping tree form, which is about 9ft tall (and has been in there for years).
willows are good for early pollen. But you want to make sure you get a type which won't outgrow it's welcome!

[jeanht]

Good for you planting for the bees. We recently planted a hedge and pulled a list of bee-friendly hedging plants from the internet. They come into flower over a long period so hopefully in the fullness of time the bees will thank us!

I might add that because we chose these plants we were not able to get a subsidy which is currently available in our area; it's only available for "standard" hedging. If those bees aren't grateful ...

[tomo]

i have got some seeds from the co operative this year the seeds include field poppy cornflower corn marigold corn camomile scentless mayweed white campion charlock and corncockle sow all in may will self seed to flower in future years hope this helps tomo 6 months into bee keeping

[Jon]

Hi Tomo.
Some of those seeds such as poppy and corncockle need cultivated ground each year to germinate from self seeding. The seeds stay viable for a long time and they germinate when soil is turned over and you get the right combination of heat, moisture and distance from the surface.

[hemo]

Hi Samsq,
If you have the room plant a Lavatera shrub . Place in a sunny position they are really easy to grow.Height and spread growth is quite rapid approx 1.5m x 1.5m.It profusiously flowers from July to October and you will be rewarded with not just honey bees but also masses of bumbles visiting. Bredon Springs or Barnsley are very good varieties.The bees collect nectar and also get smothered with pollen grains. Plant early in the year after frosts and by July
they are fully developed.

[Stromnessbees]

I feel that bumblebees should be encouraged as much as honeybees.
One of their favourites is comfrey: easy to grow, flowers for a long time, comes back every year and it's great for adding to your compost. As it doesn't produce viable seeds you won't have any problems with it speading. It's used as a medicinal plant as well, for more info about comfrey you can go to http://www.allotment.org.uk/vegetable/comfrey/index.php.

Wishing you lots of happy hours in your garden, Doris

[RoofTops]

For several weeks a year my bees (and the bumblebees) go mad on a type of sedum, - don't know it's proper name but it looks like the one in the pictures below. In fact it is the one in the pictures below. We also have Comfrey and the bumblebees like that too, but not the honey bees - too deep a flower a think.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/4181947394_9805dea4cf.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2528/4181949300_ab2fb4c39a.jpg

[bubo]

.

It is Sedum spectabile

http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=ie7&q=Sedum%20spectabile&rls=com.microsoft:fi:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7ACAW_fiFI327&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=fi&tab=wi

[Bcrazy]

I have two excellent books regarding plants for Honey bees.

Plants & Beekeeping by F. N. Howes

The Beekeepers Garden by Ted Hooper & Mike Taylor. (ISBN 0-7136-3023-X)

See if you can get a copy of either and you will be amazed how many plants there are for Honeybees.
In the books they go right through the season advising what plants should be flowering at a given time.

Good luck with the plants.:)

Regards;

[bubo]

.
Best way is go to fields and look what bees are doing there and what color pollen they get from flowers.

[Stromnessbees]

I have been reminded that regular comfrey produces lots of viable seeds and can become a nuisance.

The recommended infertile variety is Russian Comfrey (Bocking 14), which is grown from roots planted at the end of winter. It's available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.

Doris

[tomo]

field poppy cornflower corn marigold corn camomile scentless mayweed white campion charlock corncockle the wild seeds need sowing in may flower july till late sept flowers will self seed to flower in future years

[Norm]

This (http://www.themelissagarden.com/plants.html) is one of the most informative I have found online.

[milkermel]

my sedum attracted the bees like mad this year. Also a plant that i havent seen listed but that every year has endless activity is the skimmia bush. nice sent too once established. If you want a bit of sedum stump sent let me know I ahve a fair bit of it and so long as you dont have hungry chucks its grows almost like a weed! I end up splitting it each year. I was told that hellibors are good early supply for bees as well as single camellias.