Planting A Pollinator Garden

[printfriendly]

Planting A Pollinator Garden

Garlic Chives Bloomand BeeIt’s a great time of year to plant a pollinator garden. Honey and native bees do the bulk of the pollination in the orchard. If you want full crops of fruit you’ll need to help build up the pollinators in your area. Many of the native bees travel farther than 50 feet to a half mile to find food. Providing habitat and year round food for them will go a long way in making sure they will be in the orchard when you need them.

Create Habitat There are several factors that make a garden a welcoming place for the bees. It has been found that bees are strongly attracted to gardens that have a wide diversity of bee friendly plants; it’s best to have over 10 types. Planting a large patch of one type of bee plant will work better than a patch of mixed varieties. Patches at least 5 foot by 5 foot draw the most pollinators. Try to plant flowers that bloom at different seasons to provide a steady supply of food. Bees also need a source of water, such as a dripping faucet, birdbath, or large-leafed plants that collect rainwater.

Many of our best pollinators are native ground dwelling bees; these need open bare ground to nest in. Avoid mulching and tilling, which will increase your chances of having them close at hand to pollinate your orchard. Other native bees live in holes in wood. Leave dead wood and standing snags, drill holes in dead wood, and put out bundles of bamboo twigs of nesting pollinators.

Orchard BeePlants That Work There is a wide range of plants that make great bee plants; some are more attractive than others. Natives are by far the best as these are natural forage plants, but many of our colorful ornamental trees, shrubs, annuals and perennials make fantastic bee plants. The exception to the rule is plants that have been hybrizied to create double flowers these are hard for bees to work. Color plays a factor too; blue, purple, violet, yellow and white draw the most bees. Red is great for attracting hummingbirds, but looks like black to bees, so they are often not looked at as a good food source.

Undesirable Plants White Titi (Cyrilla racemiflora L.) often called summer titi is undesirable because the nectar and pollen are responsible for a condition known as “purple brood”, which kills the brood of honey bees. This plant should not be confused with spring titi which is found in the same areas, but is an excellent honey plant.

Yellow Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens (L.) Ait. f.) is a woody vine, which blooms February to March. It is toxic to honey bees and responsible for reducing colony strength.

Leave the Wild Plants Many common plants we think of as weeds are great bee forage plants. Be sure to leave wild areas within your garden. Some of these plants are the very best plants the bees exist on when the plants in your garden are no longer in bloom.

Here’s a list of some of the very best bee attracting plants that will grow well in the southeast.

Type

Bloom Season

Native

Plant Name

Tree

Early Spring

X

American Holly, Ilex opeca

Tree

Summer

X

Basswood Tilia

Tree

Summer

X

Cabbage Palm Sabal palmetto

Tree

Spring

X

Carolina Laurelcherry Prunus caroliniana

Tree

Summer

 

Chaste Tree Vitex negundo L.

Tree

Summer

 

Crepe Myrtle Lagerstroemia indica

Tree

Spring

 

Fruit Trees citrus, apple, pear, peach, plum, all berries, persimmon, kiwi, mayhaw, loquat

Tree

Spring

 

Jujuba Ziziphus jujuba Mill

Tree

Summer

X

Native Crabapple Malus angustifolia

Tree

Late Winter

X

Red Maple Acer rubrum L.

Tree

Spring

X

Redbud Cercis

Tree

Spring

X

Savannah Holly Ilex x attenuata ‘Savannah’

Tree

Summer

X

Sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum L.

Tree

Summer

X

Southern Magnolia Magnolia grandiflora

Tree

Spring

X

Spring Titi Tree Cliftonia monophylla

Tree

Summer

X

Sweetbay Magnolia Magnolia virginiana

Tree

Spring

X

Tuliptree Liriodendron tulipfera

Tree

Spring

X

White Tupelo Nyssa ogeche Bartr. ex Marsh.

Tree

Spring

X

Willow  Salix carloniniana Michx.

Shrub

Spring

X

Blueberry Vaccinium

Shrub

Summer

 

Bush Clovers Lespedeza bicolor and L. thunbergii

Shrub

Spring

 

Chinese Holly Ilex cornuta

Shrub

Spring

X

Fetterbush Lyonia lucida

Shrub

Spring

X

Gallberry Ilex glabra

Shrub

Summer

 

Glossy Abelia Abelia grandiflora

Shrub

Summer

X

Gopher Apple Chrysobalanus oblongifolius Michx.

Shrub

Summer

 

Privets and Ligustrums Ligustrum spp

Shrub

Summer

X

Saw Palmetto Serenoa repens

Shrub

Spring

X

Yaupon Ilex vomitoria

Ground Cover

Spring

 

Clover Red and White Trifolium

Ground Cover

Summer

 

Cowpeas Vigna unguiculata

Ground Cover

Summer

 

Cucurbits cucumber, pumpkins, squash, watermelon and cantaloupe

Ground Cover

Fall

 

Garlic Chives Allium

Ground Cover

Fall

X

Goldenrod Solidago microcephala

Ground Cover

Summer/Fall

X

Spanish Needles Bidens pilosa L.

Ground Cover

Winter

 

Vetches Vicia

Vine

Summer

 

Coral Vine Antigonon leptopus

Perennials

Fall

X

Aster Symphyotrichum

Perennials

Summer

 

Basil Ocimum Majoram

Perennials

Summer

X

Beardtongue Penstemon

Perennials

Summer

 

Bee Balm Monarda didyma

Perennials

Summer

X

Blanketflower Gaillardia

Perennials

Summer/Fall

X

Blazingstar Liatris

Perennials

Summer

 

Catnip Nepeta

Perennials

Summer/Fall

 

Cosmos Cosmos

Perennials

Summer/Fall

 

Giant Hyssop Agastache

Perennials

Summer/Fall

X

Giant Ironweed Vernonia

Perennials

Fall

X

Goldenrod Solidago

Perennials

Summer

 

Guara Gaura lindheimeri

Perennials

Fall

X

Joe Pye Weed Eupatorium

Perennials

Summer

 

Mexican Sage Salvia leucantha

Perennials

Summer

 

Mexican Sunflower Tithonia

Perennials

Summer

X

Milkweed Asclepias

Perennials

Summer

X

Mountain Mint Pycnanthemum

Perennials

Summer

 

Oregano Origanum

Perennials

Spring/Summer/Fall

 

Pincushion Flower Scabiosa

Perennials

Summer/Fall

 

Pineapple Sage Saliva elegan

Perennials

Summer

 

Purple Coneflower Echinacea

Perennials

Summer

 

Rosemary Rosmarinus

Perennials

Summer

X

Rosinweed Silphium

Perennials

Summer

X

Sunflower Helianthus

Related Product Categories