Add flowers that attract bees to your garden as an effective way to bolster local bee populations and ensure their survival. These blooms offer nectar, pollen and other vital nutrients for bee survival.
Bees depend on early blooming flowers in spring and late-blooming flowers in fall for food, so planting bee-friendly blooms throughout the season is key to increasing bee population levels again.
Liatris
Liatris (also referred to as gayfeather or blazing star plant) is an easy and low maintenance way to attract bees into your garden. Perfectly suitable for planting virtually anywhere and blooming throughout summer and fall.
Liatris, an evergreen perennial wildflower native to North America, makes an excellent choice for wildflower meadow plantings and cottage gardens alike. Not only is this hardy plant pest resistant but its vibrant flowers add color and drama in rock gardens as well.
As it can grow well in both moist and dry soil conditions, though it may be susceptible to root rot if drainage issues prevent proper airflow, it prefers neutral to slightly acidic pH soil conditions but will tolerate richer environments as long as they drain well.
Plants may be grown from either corms or seeds. Once established, they require no special care once planted in early summer after the last frost date.
Once flower spikes have finished blooming, be sure to cut them back to the base of the plant to help avoid overcrowding and allow room for new growth. This will also prevent overly clingy situations which might otherwise arise from overcrowded flower spikes.
Mint
Mint is one of the best flowers to attract bees into your garden, growing well both full sun and partial shade environments.
As part of the mint family (Lamiaceae), lavender is well known for its fragrant leaves and stems, making it a great companion plant to herbs such as basil and oregano and repelling pests.
Other members of the mint family include rosemary, thyme, savory and lavender; all can be grown as annuals. Rosemary makes an ideal companion for tomatoes and cucumbers while thyme can go great with cabbage potatoes and eggplants.
Bee balm mint is an easy perennial plant to cultivate in your yard and attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to its frilly white or pink flowers.
Bee-friendly plants in the mint family include sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and lemon balm – each known for its aromatic leaves and flowers that thrive both in sun or part shade with well-drained soil conditions.
Lavender
Lavender is one of the best flowers to attract bees because it offers all three essentials – colour, fragrance and nectar – necessary for their attraction. Furthermore, lavender serves as a chemical-free alternative to pesticides that could potentially harm pollinators such as bees.
Bees don’t see very well, so they rely on colours, shapes and scents to find their way around. Bees especially take notice of lavender’s bright purple and blue shades which they find particularly inviting.
Honey bees and bumblebees alike enjoy foraging from lavender flowers, with the latter typically making more frequent forays into its depths than honey bees due to their longer tongues allowing them to extract more nectar than shorter-tongued honey bees do. A recent study at University of Sussex determined this was possible thanks to long tongued bumblebees being equipped with longer tongues which enable them to access tubular lavender blossoms for nectar extraction than shorter-tongued honey bees can.
An addition of just one lavender plant to your garden could provide enough nectar for bees for an entire year, as they love its sweet perfumed smell that they can detect even from distantly.
California Poppies
California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica) are an excellent way to attract bees into your garden. Easy and rewarding to maintain, this perennial flower makes an attractive addition to any landscape.
Bees are crucial to the continued existence of any garden as they transport pollen grains between blooms to fertilize them and allow plants to produce seeds and new plants. Furthermore, bees provide essential food source for many animals and insects – including birds!
To entice bees into your garden, plant low-growing flowers easily accessible by bees such as Dutch white clover (Trifolium repens), thyme (Thymus serpyllum), or native violas. These will provide food and resting spots for bees while encouraging them to remain for extended periods. Including them into mowed lawns will further ensure their continued presence in your space.
Perennial plants offer many advantages, with one being their ability to self-seed each year and draw bees and butterflies into your yard. Just be sure to place them in full sun with well-draining soil as overwatered perennials may succumb to mildew and fungus growth, leaving your perennials vulnerable.
Cosmos
Cosmos flowers are one of the best flowers to attract bees into your garden, with easy-care annual cultivation that brightens any corner.
Flowers come in all sorts of hues, from white, pink and lavender through deep red, fiery yellow and brilliant orange – some even come scented.
Cosmos bipinnatus and Cosmos sulphureus (commonly referred to as the sulphur cosmos) are two species of cosmos beloved by bees; both provide pollen and nectar for pollinators over extended periods, providing pollen and nectar sources that provide pollinators with pollen and nectar sources – blooming months later!
Planting these flowers from seed directly in your garden is among the easiest of tasks, preferring dry soil and tolerating some neglect; just be sure that they receive regular irrigation until established.
Starting seeds indoors can also get flowers blooming earlier this spring. Simply sow seeds into modules or seed trays, cover them with a thin layer of compost, and set the tray somewhere warm so it can germinate; this should take approximately 12 weeks.
Foxglove
Foxglove flowers are one of the best flowers to attract bees into your garden, providing them with ample nectar sources. Foxglove thrives across a range of soil types and requires little upkeep – making this low maintenance plant easy to grow!
If you’re cultivating this flower, be sure to water it consistently and provide ample sun. Otherwise, your foxglove could quickly turn into an unsightly plant with weak and faded blossoms.
This plant has many uses, including treating eczema and neurodermatitis. Unfortunately, however, its consumption can lead to health complications in humans as well as animals.
Foxglove, despite its toxic nature, remains a beloved flower among gardeners due to its stunning bell-shaped blooms and various cultivars can produce flowers in white, cream yellow, pink or rose depending on what colors the cultivar produces.
This perennial herb attracts bees when grown in shaded locations. Furthermore, its seeds will repopulate your garden annually; you can plant it either as a standalone potted specimen or add it to a mixed border planting scheme.
Goldenrod
Goldenrod (Symphytum x grandiflorum) is one of the best flowers to attract bees as it provides late season forage for honeybees, bumblebees, butterflies, beneficial wasps and soldier beetles. Additionally, its low maintenance requires means it performs well across different soil types while drawing in birds and wildlife as it thrives well in any climate zone.
Garden ornamentals cultivated from different species of goldenrod include Canadian, giant and blue stem goldenrods. These blooming beauties typically bloom between late spring and early summer when many other blooming flowers have faded from view.
Goldenrod, native to North America and Mexico, can be found growing in open fields, wetlands and woodlands with dense clusters of bright yellow flowers appearing from July through September.
Goldenrod has long been used in folk medicine to soothe inflammations in the mouth and throat, treat bee stings with poultices made of goldenrod leaves, combat gout and hemorrhoids, relieve muscle spasms due to infection, lower blood pressure, as well as reduce muscle spasms by aiding muscle relaxation, fight infections and reduce blood pressure. Furthermore, tea made from goldenrod is widely consumed to flush kidney stones out quickly while protecting from urinary tract inflammations.
Sunflower
Sunflowers are one of the best flowers to attract bees to your garden, serving as an important food source for many beneficial pollinators species, such as honeybees, bumblebees and butterflies.
These perennial herbs grow well in most soil types and are drought resistant. Different varieties produce various colors and sizes of blooms.
Bees love them for their oil-rich seeds that provide food for birds. Additionally, these flowers make great cut flowers in gardens or make excellent cut flower additions.
Gardeners who grow sunflowers know they thrive best under full sunlight. Additionally, these hardy perennials tolerate winds well and can even be planted together in groups for added effect.
Sunflower seeds can be planted directly into the ground or pots. Once frost danger has passed, plant sunflowers whenever it’s safe to do so, keeping strong winds at bay. They require 6-8 hours of sun daily for optimal growth.