Cottage gardens go hand in hand with bee's and butterflies.

Here are a few pictures of what our native bee's like.

Foxglove
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Poppy
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Geranium
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Sweepeas
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Oh, and a mason bee house is a must!
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Happy gardening!

Edna

We have assorted bees throughout the year, but honey bees are noticeably missing until fall. I have a Michaelmas Daisy bed (Perennial Asters) in the fall it's swarming with honey bees in september and october. A very good bee magnet :o).

Annette

Glad to see others are building mason bee houses. I'm planting all sorts of bee balm and herbs like Dill and Queen Anne's Lace. Last year, I had some purple salvia that the bumble bees loved. I don't remember a single day when there wasn't at least 1 bee on that plant.

You know, I'm not sure what bees prefer in my garden. I just take bees for granted and don't give them much thought, usually. Many of the butterfly pics have bees in them. I'll have to go through and see what turns up.

I do know that a fat bumblebee kept going in the open greenhouse door and hanging about on the pentas blossoms when everything was killed back outside.

Nell

todancewithwolves - Did you make that mason bee house yourself? Looks great! Do you do anything with it over winter? Do you clean it out after they emerge? I have a lot of cedar from a previous project and wonder if it would be suitable to use as a mason bee house? Do you know if the mason house attracts carpenter bees? (I sure know that the beams in my shed get their share of them! Lots of drill holes every summer.) That is a wonderful pic of the bee on the sweepeas. It almost looks metallic.
Kris

Basic instructions on mason bee houses.

Other information about bees and their habitats with a list of plants.

A simple block of wood with holes drilled will attract masons and leafcutter bee's. Jim added a great 'how to' guide.

Carpenters tend to be a pest as they drill their own holes and can be destructive. But I enjoy watching them in the garden.

No need to clean a mason bee house, they do all the work. They will lay 3 - 6 eggs in each cell depending on the depth. They plug the holes with mud. If you see a yellow or light green plug then you have a leafcutter.

I wish I have more land, if I did I'd start a hive.

Try overseeding your lawn with clover to attract the honeybees. I have done just that since the clover holds up better in our heat than the fescue does.

I hate carpenter bees however since they can do a number on any wooden structure in your yard including the house and wooden decks if you have them.

The most bee pics I found on a casual look-thru was on tithonia. Tithonia is a great butterfly attractor, too.

Can you see the bee in flight to the right of the butterfly who had just displaced him?

Gaillardia is another flower popular with both bees and butterflies.

Nell

Nckvilledudes right, clover does the trick. I have crimson for winter/spring then it dies back and the white clover takes over for summer/fall.

Clover also attracts skippers. Clover is also a host plant for some species of skippers.

I almost wouldn't mind the carpenter bee drilling the holes up under the eaves of the old outhouse, if she didn't leave the sticky, yellow goo spattered all over the white siding. It's difficult to wash off, too.

Hyssop seems to be a major bee attractor in my border.

I am planting borage again this year as I haven't had it for about two years. I miss seeing the huge big fat fuzzy bees hanging on the delicate blossoms.
gg

Borage is on my list too. As is fennel and dill.

Nckvilledudes -
Most of my lawn is white clover. Last year I left almost half an acre (I have 1.25 acre property) mostly unmowed and the honeybees were everywhere. They really enjoyed it. (Don't know about the neighbors, though, but whenever it got about 8" deep, I did trim it back. ;-)) The clover bloomed for nearly 3 months that way and it was that more than anything that tipped me toward the bee sanctuary plan.)

schoolhouse - Thanks for the tip on hyssop. I hope to find some starts this year to add to the new 'ring' garden bed (103' long and 72' wide). That bed will be totally devoted to pollinator plants.

I'm also going to start common milkweed that is supposed to be saturated with nectar for the bees and will also support monarch butterflies. I'm hoping to get the ring garden full of perennials one day (a 3-5 year plan). Until then I'll fill with zinnias - they feed a lot!

As for the carpenter bees ... I must admit they are much fun to watch, although I really am going to try and lure them to some sacrificial lumber and away from the shed/arbor this year. :-)

Kris

Kris, that's great your planting milkweed. Once you do, get yourself certified by MonarchWatch.org. I'm waystation number 313 (I think)

I've never grown borage, in fact, I don't even know what that is. Off now to google borage.

Happy New Year all....

Todancewithwolves, have never tried crimson clover but will have to look into that. The local farm supply store might carry it but I have never thought to ask. The guy at the store thought it was great that I was overseeded the yard with clover--said it would be good for the bees. The neighbors might not like it since they tend to go for the monoculture fescue lawns that they keep watered all summer long.

Kiddo, I have fond memories of running through clover filled lawns as a kid and catching honeybees that were there feeding on the flowers. You will like butterfly weed. Mine was covered all summer with bees and the seeds were collected and scattered in various places around the yard to hopefully germinate on their own. I am also starting red swamp milkweed this winter via wintersowing.
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Schoolhouse, I can attest to the bees just loving hyssop.

Borage flowers make great additions to salads and have a cucumbery taste. I grew them in the past but haven't done so for quite a few years. May have to add them to my seed starting list--like I need more things to add! LOL

As for carpenter bees, I hate them. They almost destroyed the deck at my last house and I have seen them do serious damage to wood framed houses. My favorite spring activity is to go outside with a tennis racket and whack them against the side of the house.

Clover is great, it stays green when the grass goes dormant, we don't water our so call called lawn in the summer. I'll be over seeding our so called lawn with clover this spring and for the next few years until the whole thing is clover. Don't have to mow it as often either :o).
We also have quite a few houses for the little mason bees which seem to have done their thing around here by the time my Dr. Ruppel Clematis has finished it's first flush of blooms. A

Lavender seems to be a major bee attractor in my garden. Other plants where I see bees always buzzing around, even though you wouldn't think of them in the first place, since they are flowering shrubs, are ceanothus, grevillia rosmarinifolia and bottle brush bush - when they are in flower, of course. You can hear the bees hum from quite afar at that time and if you look closely you'll see them swarming all around the shrubs.

Eduarda

I garden to attract pollinators as well - with an emphasis on native plants and annuals that provide abundant pollen and nectar for the bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, etc. I really enjoy having lots of these little guys in the gardens and don't use any pesticides. Although, this thread has me a bit worried about the Carpenter bees, and I'm hoping they make their nests in the numerous logs that are laying around?

The top bee-attracting plants in my gardens include -

Perennials - Agastache foeniculum and hybrids, Echinacea, Eupatorium species including the Joe Pye weeds, Solidago (Goldenrods), Asters, perennial Helianthus (Sunflowers), Asclepias (Milkweeds), Salvia nemorosa, Sedums, Scabiosa.

Annuals - Cosmos, Tithonia, Verbena bonariensis, annual Sunflowers, and various herbs

The Bumblebees are all over the Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' when it's blooming, and it is a giNORmous plant with lots of pretty yellow blooms -
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All kinds of pollinators like the Asters, here are a couple Bumblebees on a 1st year New England Aster. One of these has a big lump of pollen on its leg -
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Asclepias incarnata (Swamp milkweed) is very popular when it's in bloom -
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This is sure a wonderful topic! Two years ago I put much emphasis adding plants for bee's and butterflies. I've enjoyed the results so much. I'm giddy when I find another who shares the same passion.

nckvilledudes, beautiful picture and a well mannered Asclepias. If you have hummingbirds, they will use the fluff from the seeds to build nests.

As Eduarda said (and I can't believe I didn't think of it either) Lavender is well loved by bee's. Also rosemary.

What wonderful suggestions and the pictures are great (especially since it's 8 degrees right now with a bitter wind).

Terrene -- I harvested milkweed seeds from the side of a road in November. I don't know if it is 'swamp' or 'common' but I hope it is the 'swamp' as in your pics. I love that color! If I find I have the 'common/white' perhaps you would share some seeds next year?

Todancewithwolves -- Don't know if you've visited my blogsite, but you'll see my bee/pollinator sanctuary efforts and realize I need all the help I can get! I'm really excited about the project! *grin*

Eduarda -- Lavender! Of course. Since I'm on a tight budget I'll be scoping out my friends' gardens for some lavender starts (but I seem to remember that they don't like to be transplanted...?).

As for the clover, I love it. It keeps the 'lawn' green in the hot summer, smells wonderful and it's fun to sit in a big patch on a summer evening and look for 4-leaf clovers....

Kris

In my garden, these plants are literally swarming with bees:

St. Johns Wort (hypericum)
Lavender
Nepeta
Chaste Tree (vitex)
Oakleaf holly (in spring)

Cameron

kiddo (Kris), that is such a pretty photo. I can feel the warm grass on my bare feet - and a bee sting or two?! I have a much smaller patch of lawn off the back porch that has white clover, I wish I didn't have to mow it so often.

Schoolhouse - I'm sure my neighbors weren't really happy that I didn't mow the back lawn weekly like everyone else did. (Here most everyone mows weekly and regular sprays for weeds, bugs, you name it - especially the golf course right in back of my property - wow you can't believe the chemicals I'm surrounded by!) I counteract: I do my part - totally organic and no chemical pesticides.

Anyway after deciding not to mow the clover this past year and after a couple of weeks of lush clover bloom just crawling with all types of bees, I painted a sign "Bee Sanctuary" and stuck it right in the middle. Now I wasn't just the neighborhood crazy, I was the environmentalist, the conservator, the woman with a cause! (OK OK, I admit -- maybe just a little crazy, but I'm willing to take the risk... *grin*)
Kris

Ok, where can I find the seeds for this clover? I've never been one to really like grass. I'd like to get rid of all of mine if I could.

Here in Kernersville,NC, Farmers Feed and Seed is where I purchased white clover seed.

Thanks. I'll check out Mauney's here in Albemarle. They're a feed/seed store for the farmers. Do I plant it now or in the spring?

I tried planting some last spring but with the drought not much of it germinated. I planted it again this past fall and I have substantially more growing and coming up. In fact, just the other day I was outside decreasing the grassed areas by increasing the size of one of my beds and I saw even more seedlings germinating. I would be tempted to scratch it into the soil now and see if it will come up next spring. If not, then next fall you could try again. Just realize that clover seed is very small. I just hand tossed it out since I thought I would get it in all the beds and use it up too fast if I tried using a regular spreader.

I'll go pay them a visit tomorrow. Thanks.

Todancewith wolves, I like that Mason bee house too. I wonder if I drilled holes into some of the dead snags (dead trees and branches) or a log if they would use that.

Kiddo, I like your clover lawn. Looks like lots of potential there for some gardens or maybe a mini-meadow along with the clover. Every few years, I cast some clover seed over the grass, although there is not that much grass on my lot (coincidentally also 1.25 acres). Clover is a good companion to grass because it is a legume and fixes nitrogen which nourishes the grasses.

Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is very attractive to pollinators, has showy pink flowers that smell heavenly, and is an excellent Monarch host plant, however it's kind of a coarse plant and not well-behaved in the garden. It sends out fairly long runners every which way. I have some growing in the wild area in the back-backyard, where it can spread hither and yon if it wants.

The Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) is clumping and well-behaved. I think the foliage is much more attractive. In my garden it reseeds readily. I saved seeds from the light pink in the picture above, and also have seeds that are white and a few seeds that were from a dark pink. I winter-sowed the dark pink last year, and it hasn't bloomed yet, but can't wait to see the color. Send me an email, I'd be happy to share some of these.

Another bee attractor - Echinacea -

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Terrene - had to chuckle when I saw your last pic. Seems those green sweat bees sure like coneflowers and I have a similar pic. I have one plant of coneflowers so saved seed and will start new plants this spring.

When I moved here 6 years ago there was very little clover in the lawn. The previous owners used to spray, just like the neighbors. I don't, so the clover has increased every year and last year I was excited to see some little pink clover mixing in! The clover pic I posted is the site of the new 'ring garden' I started July/08 (as mentioned in my blog).

Since I'm on such a tight budget, if anyone has any spare lavender seeds to share/trade, I sure would be appreciative since obviously the bees love it!

Kris

BeeBalm---Monarda! I have a nice big clump of Marshall's Delight in front of our east facing sun porch windows. It was huge last year----4-5 feet tall! It was literally covered with all kinds of bees, butterflies, and delightful hummingbird moths----the actual hummers liked it too! Great fun sitting by the window and watching them! Another plant/plants that are covered all summer long with bees are my perennial salvias---May Nihgt etc. Have lots of the other flowers mentioned here as well but these two really stand out as far as being covered with bees goes.
aunt lou