Nearly all types of bees are gentle creatures who have no interest in stinging. They are searching for pollen and nectar to feed themselves and bee babies. There are over 850 identified species of bees in Canada!
Bees are attracted to flowers which contain nectar. As the bees visit other flowers, pollen rubs off - this is a very oversimplified way of describing a ridiculously important process (vital for the creation of most food on the planet!) Yes, most fruits and a vast number of vegetables come about because they are pollinated by bees. So, without them, we’re goners.
Here is a seasonal lineup of bee-attracting plants to keep in mind:
- Late winter, early spring: Doronicum (Leopard’s Bane), rhododendrons, crocus, Erica/Calluna (heather attracts bees spring through winter), Pulmonaria (lungwort), Chionodoxa (Glory-of-the-snow)
- Mid-Spring: Aubretia, azalea, Polemonium (Jacob's Ladder), Columbine, Evening Primrose, Echinops ritro (globe thistle)
- Late spring: Lupine, Foxglove, Tulip, California/Oriental poppies, Anchusa (bugloss)
- Summer: Flowers of most Herbs especially sage. Also, mint, marjoram, thyme, and lavender, oregano too. Fennel and borage (an annual) are outstanding bee attractors. Comfrey is too – but it can be invasive!
Annuals: Sunflowers are super important; Agastache (licorice mint) is a lovely self-seeding annual that you can also make a tea from. Grow sweet alyssum, Cerinthe, cosmos, Linaria (Moroccan toadflax), snapdragons, Zinnia
Perennials: Achillea ( Yarrow), Alcea (hollyhock), asters of all kinds, Coreopsis, Echinacea (coneflower – any colour!), Echium, Eryngium, anything sunflower-related like Heliopsis, Helianthemum, Helianthus tuberosum (Jerusalem artichoke); Lavatera, Liatris, Lychnis, Nepeta, Perovskia (Russian sage), Rudbeckia, Salvia, Scabiosa, Tithonia, Tradescantia.
Shrubs/sub-shrubs: Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree), Arctostaphylos uva ursi, (kinnickinnick) Cistus (foliage smells like honey), Escallonia, Ligustrum (privet – covered with bees when it’s in bloom), Ceanothus (California Lilac), Portuguese laurel, cotoneaster, Hebe
Trees: hawthorne, Malus sp.(crabapple, other apples), Oxydendron (sourwood)
Weeds: Please learn to love them. Dandelions are a most important bloom for early spring Mason and other bees. Consider letting some weedier plants grow in the lane or in a patch that you leave alone; they are mighty attractors of bees. White clover looks lovely growing in a lawn: take care if you run barefoot though, you may accidently step on a 'bee buffet'.
Author: Sharon Hanna, MG, Vancouver Chapter
