SouthWestern Ohio Beekeepers Association SWOBA
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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
PLANT | Part/Catalog No. | SHRUB | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
Hazelnut Corylus americana | X | Native, pollen source, nuts for food and wildlife | |
Cornelian Cherry Dogwood Cornus mas | X | Small ornamental tree, some fruiting varieties available | |
Serviceberry Amelanchier spp | X |
X | Native, tree and bush forms available, delicious fruit |
Chokeberry Aronia melanocarpa | X | Native, good fall color, fruit for food and wildlife. Likes wet sites | |
Cane Fruits Raspberry and Blackberry | X | Native, good fall color, fruit for food and wildlife. Likes wet sites | |
Buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis | X | Native, likes wet sites | |
Cotoneasters | X | Many varieties available | |
Basswood and Lindens Tilia spp. | X | Large shade trees, Basswood is a native | |
Korean Evodia Tetradium danielii | X | Small to medium tree, difficult to find but great nectar source | |
Devil’s Walking Stick Aralia spinosa | X | X | Native, usually grows in groups, very unique tree, fruit for wildlife |
Sweetspire Itea virginica | X | Native, several varieties available , ‘ Little Henry’ | |
Butterfly Bush Buddleia spp | X | Very fragrant, attractive to insects and hummingbirds, many varieties | |
Russian Sage Perovskia atriplicifolia | X | Long bloom times, very tough plant, can spread | |
Franklin Tree Franklinia alatamaha | X | Rare native, blooms appear with fall color at the same time | |
Witch Hazel Hamamelis virginiana | X | X | Native varieties bloom in the fall, Non-native varieties bloom winter |
