Best Plants for Bees

The number of bumblebees in the UK has declined by around 70% since the 1970s and honey bees by up to 15% in the last two years, according to official UK Government figures.

It's generally accepted that a reduction of wildflowers is a main contribution to the decline of bumblebees.

U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers found that honeybee colonies declined in the USA by 29% between September 2008 and early April 2009. That's an improvement over the previous two years, when researchers found that 32% and 36% of all beekeepers surveyed lost hives.

But the loss of so many bees is still cause for concern.

Bees are looking for two things when they visit your garden:

Nectar - nectar is loaded with sugars and is a bee's main source of energy

Pollen - pollen provides a balanced diet of proteins and fats

Choose your area
The bee friendly border needs to be in full sun but also sheltered from the wind. Bees hate being blown around when trying to land on flowers and prefer to stay in the sun rather than the shade.

Make a list
List the calendar months down on a piece of paper and start choosing bee friendly plants to ensure something is in flower every month. This is where a good gardening book comes in handy and choose several different plants for each month. This will support a range of bee species that fly at different times of the season.

As with any border choose smaller plants for the front and graduate the size to the back of the border, which should have taller shrubs.

Use local native plants
Research suggests native plants are four times more attractive to native bees than exotic flowers. They are also usually well adapted to your growing conditions and can thrive with minimum attention.

Bee in Flower
Eric Schaal
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Choose a variety of colours
Bees have good colour vision to help them find flowers and the nectar and pollen they offer. Colours that attract bees are blue, purple, violet, white, and yellow.

Plant flowers in clumps
Flowers clustered into clumps of the same species will attract more bees than individual plants scattered through the border. Where space allows, make the clumps four feet or more in diameter.

Include flowers of different shapes
There are thousands of different species of bees around the world. They are all different sizes and have different tongue lengths and will feed on different shaped flowers. Providing a variety of flower shapes means more bees can benefit.

Don't use pesticides!
Most pesticides are not selective. You are killing off the beneficial bugs along with the pests. You can make a natural pesticide using Soapnuts to tackle green and blackfly if you must but spray carefully!

Charlie Dimmock is an English gardening expert and TV presenter. Together with Alan Titchmarsh she was one of the hosts on Ground Force, a BBC gardening makeover program. And she is so well known in the UK that she has a fuschia named after her!

Fuchsia Charlie Dimmock
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As well as having a bouncy personality, Charlie is also well known for just being "bouncy", not only because of her bubbly personality but also due to the fact that it was obvious that she never wore a certain undergarment underneath her T-Shirts!

Read more about Charlie Dimmock

Read on to find out what UK Celebrity Gardner Charlie Dimmock recommends we plant in our gardens to attract bees.

I am delighted to say that we grow seven of them in our garden!

The majority of Ceanothus are evergreen. The leaves are small (typically 1-5 cm long) and mostly with serrated margins.

The tiny flowers can be white, blue (which is what we have in our garden), pale purple or pink. The flowers are produced in large, dense clusters that are intensely fragant .

Allium Hollandicum "Purple Sensation" with Ceanothus in Background
Jason Ingram
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The seeds of the Ceanothus can lie dormant for hundreds of years, and Ceanothus species are typically dependent on forest fires to trigger germination of its seeds.

We have two types of Ceanothus in our garden. The larger tree (which is about 12 feet tall) blooms in May and then the smaller bush follows on into June.

Here is a link to more info about growing Ceanothus

Different varieties of Heather have flower colours ranging from white, through pink, red and purples. The flowering season extends from late July to November in the northern hemisphere, depending on the variety.

Heather in Bloom on Hiddensee Island
Norbert Rosing
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Heather is found growing wild in the UK on Moorland and there's many cultivated varieties. We do not grow Heather in our garden as although I love to see it in the wild, I prefer not to have it in my garden.

Here is a link to more info about growing Heather

Thyme is a drought tolerant perennial, that can be found growing on mountain highlands. It prefers a well-drained light soil, which should not be too rich in nutrients which will only make the plant 'leggy' and loose its compact shape. Being a native of the Mediterranean it needs a place in full sun.

Thyme reaches a height of 30 cm (12in) and is best suited either to the rock garden or the front of a border. I tend to keep it in a pot in the kitchen in winter and grow it amongst other herbs in a planter outside the back door, which gets the sun for most of the day. It is also in easy reach when I want to cut some for cooking.

"Thyme outside AJ's backdoor"
© aj2008

Thyme is widely cultivated for its strong flavour, which is due to its content of thymol. Thyme can be deep frozen and retains its flavour on drying better than many other herbs.

Here is a link to more info about growing Thyme

Lavender is a very bushy short shrub that grows wild in the sunny, stony habitats of the Mediterranean Mountains. It also flourishes in Australia, and the United States.

Lavender grows to a height of roughly 60cms and do best in moderately fertile, well-drained, alkaline soils in full sun. Once established this herb thrives on poor, dry, stony soils, but does not tolerate water-logging.

Lavender Fields in Sequim, Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA
Jamie Wild
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The name Lavender comes from the Latin root lavare, which means "to wash". Lavender was frequently used in baths to help purify the body and spirit. However, this herb is also used natural remedy for a range of ailments from insomnia and anxiety to depression and mood disturbances. Research has confirmed that lavender produces calming, soothing and sedative effects but use during pregnancy is not advised.

We have various Lavenders in our garden that attract butterflies as well as bees.

Here is a link to more info about growing Lavender

Hebe is an evergreen shrub and ranges in size from dwarf shrubs to small trees up to 7 metres. They are native to to New Zealand, Rapa in French Polynesia, the Falkland Islands, and South America. They come in a variety of colours and they attract butterflies as well as bees.

Hebe Andersonii, Close-up of Pink Flowers and Foliage
Steven Knights
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Hebes cope with most soil types, and can be propagated easily from cuttings. Although they can tolerate the British winter, Hebes do not like bitter cold winds.

I have had Hebes survive for years and then just suddenly die.

Here is a link to more info about growing Hebes

Preferring full sun and dryish conditions Candytuft is very easy to grow and can be planted almost anywhere in the garden except deep shade. Native to the Mediterranean it flowers from May to August.

Iberis Gibraltarica (Candytuft), Close-up of White Flowers
Hemant Jariwala
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Candytuft is a fast-growing, annual, bushy plant with small, dense, round heads of fragrant flowers, which come in a range of colours from white to red.

Here is a link to more info about growing Candytuft

Sage, (of which there are several varieties) is a small perennial evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. It is native to the Mediterranean and commonly grown as a kitchen and medicinal herb or as an ornamental garden plant.

Perovskia, Little Spire (Russian Sage)
Mark Bolton
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Sage very easy to propogate by taking a cutting with a "heel" on it and potting up.

My Sage is outside my back door and needs a lot of cutting back each year after it has flowered. When in bloom it is always covered in bees.

Here is a link to more info about growing Sage

Pyracantha is a large, thorny evergreen shrub , which is native from southeast Europe east to southeast Asia. The plants reach up to 6m tall but can be trained against a wall or fence using supporting wires.

The seven species have white flowers that are produced during late spring and early summer. The berries, called pomes, are either red, orange or yellow and provide welcome food for berry eating birds.

"AJ's Pyracantha"
© aj2008

Note: The thorns on the bushes are vicious and you need to wear gloves when pruning.

Here is a link to more info about growing Pyracantha

01 October 2009
Rothamsted Research and University of Warwick (UK) have been awarded a £1million ($1.6m) grant to probe the mystery of disappearing honey bees.

More info

Yes, Weigelia is a favourite in AJ's garden and the copiuos blooms that last all summer long are favourites of the bees as well!

We love to watch them disappear into the trumpet shaped flowers!

"Backend of a Bee in a Weigelia!"
© aj2008

You can just about make out the rear end of a bee in the centre of the above photo!

"Red Weigelia with a blurred bee"
© aj2008

The bee in this photo just would not keep still! It is a blur at the top of the picture but I wanted to include this pic which shows the gorgeous shade of red of this Weigelia, which blooms all Summer long.

The female of the non-aggressive Mason Bee spends most of her life searching for hollow stems to use as a nest. We had a tragedy in our Greenhouse when I was repotting some fuschias. Unbeknown to me a Mason Bee had laid two eggs in the bottom of my flower pots, each individually wrapped in leaves taken from my roses. She had burrowed in through the holes at the bottom of the pots.

So I thought why not make a bee hotel for her in which she can lay her eggs?

Red Mason Bee, Leaving Artificial Nest Tube
Peter O'toole
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I searched for instructions which tell you to collect old flower stalks or bamboo canes, follow the simple steps and within one hour the project will be complete.

Here are the instructions to make a Bee hotel

A few years ago my Dad made me a nesting box, complete with birdtable on a pole. We sited it just a few feet away from our lounge door and it was great, the first year a pair of blue tits nested and raised their brood.

However, more recently the box has been colonised by bees in the summer and the blue tits have moved to a different nesting box in the garden.

Bee hotel at AJ's
© aj2008

The ivy surrounding the nesting box was grown from cuttings taken from ivy in my wedding bouquet in 1996!

I discovered this blog, that is linking to this lens:

Dragonwycksanctuary

It is well worth a visit and has delightful photos.

The National Honey Bee Awareness Day (NHBAD), also known as National Honey Bee Day, is the first ever day completely dedicated to Honey Bee Awareness on a national scale.

On August 21 2010 all state and county associations and bee clubs in the USA, are being asked to participate in local events tailored to educating about honey bees and encouraging community involvement.

The first National Honey Bee Day was held on August 22, 2009 and involved 15 states and 39 bee associations plus individual programs. Events consisted of programs such as educational seminars at environmental centers, open houses at apiaries, hosted honey tasting events, as well as displays at county and state fairs.

09 July 2009
This lens has been awarded a Squidoo Purple Star!
Purple Star?



According to the Purple Star lens,
they are awarded to Lenses that are:

"Masterpiece lenses. Lenses making a name for themselves.
Lenses trying new things."

What an honour!