Build A Better Four-Season Bee Garden

The saying goes, "If you build it, they will come." If you build a bee garden they will come, and they will bring their friends, the butterflies.

A good bee garden consists of plants that offer plenty of both pollen and nectar. For this reason, many ornamentals such as impatiens, petunias, and begonias are not desirable in a bee-friendly garden; they offer little to no nourishment for bees. The best bee gardens will combine many varieties of traditional bedding plants and wildflowers with different bloom times.

**denotes Native Wildflowers (Michigan). For a list of native plants for your area, visit: http://www.enature.com/native_invasive/

Late Winter-Spring   (Bumblebees prefer to forage during cool weather)
                                         

Trillium

Rosemary
Cowslip
Crocus
Daffodil                          
**Trout Lily                      
**Turk's Cap Lily
Genista
Dicentra
Native Bluebells
**Trillium






Spring-Summer  (All bees are foraging now so they can raise their larvae. Plant plenty of spring-summer bloomers to help ensure colony survival.)
                                 
                                    Forget-Me-Not

Comfrey

 Foxglove                                                  
 Chives                                                  
 Honeysuckle
 Thyme
 **Comfrey
 Campanula
 Columbine
 Allium
 **Swamp Milkweed
 **Marsh Marigold



Summer-Autumn (Feeds late developing colonies and newly developed worker bees)

Red Hot Poker

Golden Rod
Cornflower
Red Hot Poker
**Blue Vervain
**Cardinal Flower
Veronica                              
Scabious
Snapdragon
**Lobiela
**Spotted Joe Pye-Weed
Hollyhock
Bergenia
Nasturtium


Autumn-Winter (Ensures the survival of late foragers. After the bees have pollinated these plants, many of them grow berries which provides food and shelter for winter birds.)

Ivy
Mint
Oregano
Viburnum
Common Heather
Golden Rod
Asters

Viburnum

Be sure to plant in groups. Large splashes of color make it easier for the bee to locate the plants. Large groups also help conserve the bee's energy, encouraging more nectar and pollen to be returned to the colony. Also, be sure to plant plants with several different shapes of flowers; different types of bees are attracted to different types of flowers.

When you help save the bees, you help save the planet!