SouthWestern Ohio Beekeepers Association SWOBA
Beekeeping in the tri - States area, Cincinnati and surrounding states and counties
Best Easy to Find and Grow Flowers for Bees
Echium (Viper’s Bugloss)
Phacelia (Tansy)
Sage-Blue Bedder, Russian
Catanache (Cupid’s Dart)
Centaurea (Bachelor’s Buttons)
Sunflower (Check to make sure the variety is not pollen free)
Asclepias (Milkweeds, esp Incarnata and Green Milkweed
Goldenrod species
Asters
Melissa Officianalis (Lemon Balm)
Echinacea (Purple Coneflower, Clasping Coneflower)
Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan)
Monarda (Spotted Bee Balm)
Lobelia (Native Blue)
Cosmos (Single flowered varieties
Poppies (California and Oriental varieties)
Best Late Winter-Early Spring Flowers for Bees
Winter Aconite
Siberian Squill
Snowdrops (Galanthes)
Dicentra (Bleeding Heart)
Spring Flowering Crocus
Bluebells(try Virginia Bluebells)
Lenten Rose (Helleborus Orientalis)
Tulips- use by bees depends on the variety
Best Spring/Summer Flowers for Bees
Eryngium
Poppy
Borage Officianalis
Chives
Bugle (Ajuga)
Crane’s Bill Geranium
Thyme
Cerinthe purpurasceus (Blue Honeywort)
Lupine
Achillea
Pentstemon\Salvia
Echinops
Allium
Gaillardia
Sweet Pea
Passion Flower
Muscari
Forget-me-not (Myosotis)
Foxglove
Best Summer-Autumn Flowers for Bees
Scorpion Weed (Phacelia Tanacetifolia)
Asters
Sedum (Stonecrop)
Goldenrod (Solidago)
Cornflowers (Bachelor’s Buttons)
Salvia
Nasturtium
Scabiosa
Sunflower
Veronica
Nepeta (Catmint)
Bergamot (Bee Balm)
Balsam
Hollyhock
*English Ivy * (very invasive)
Mint Species
Sneezeweed (Helenium)
Oregano
Best Native Plants for Bees
Hairy Mountain Mint (Pycanthemum incanum)
Goldenrod
New England Aster
Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
Cup Plant (Scrophularia californica)
Monarda Punctata
Phacelia Tanacetifolia (Lacy scorpion weed)
Chamerion angustifoium) (Fireweed)
Chamerion latifolium) (Dwarf Fireweed)
Cleome serrulata (Rocky Mountain Bee Plant)
Dalea Compacta (Compact Prairie Clover)
Dalea candida (White Prairie Clover)
Dalea purpurea (Purple Prairie Clover)
Eutrochium fistulosum (Joe Pye Weed)
Asclepias (Milkweeds)
Agastache (Hyssop)
Tidy Tips
Mimulus (Sticky Monkey Flower)
Echinacea purpurea (Coneflower)
Liatris (Prairie Blazing Star)
Smooth Blue Aster
Eryngium yuccafolium (Rattlesnake Master)
Best Trees and Bushes for Bees
