I'm in the process of clearing 1.5 acres of land (from forest) for an orchard. I'll probably run out of time to plant the trees/set up the orchard this Spring so I would like to cover the ground with something. I'm thinking pumpkins for part of the area but what would you suggest I throw down for my 2 hives to make the bees happy. I live in zone 6 on the PA/NJ border. Some thing that grows fast, possibly low to the ground and is good for bees of course. Possibly something that I could keep for next year that can exist around the trees and not grow so much (so it won't have to be cut). Thanks, Jester.
Wildflower seed is always a good get. You get a lot of variety and bloomings over the entire summer, and it often reseeds itself so will last for a while until you can do more development. 2nd suggestion would be to opt for one or more (mixed) clovers.
Hmm it's hard to think of some that would grow in partial shade and then eventually full shade or very close to it.
Borage would be good, but it does feel thorny. It is a very prolific plant though. Despite being an annual you WILL have more Borage coming up the following year if you allow it to drop seed.
Phacelia was a great plant too, flowered early, but died back completely before the summer was done. I don't know yet how well it reseeds itself.
I really want to suggest Liatris (Blazing Star, Gay Feather) too but I don't think it would be right for all the space. Home Depot and Lowes usually sell them in packets of 40 bulbs. They're a biannual so buying seeds would mean you'd have to wait a year before flowers. Buying the bulbs though would work better. And once they set seed they might come back year after year. But you might need to continue planting them for a year or two to get them established. (Gold Finches love the seeds too).
Blanket Flower, but that's more of a full sun plant I think. It's an early blooming Aster too. Just about any Aster would also work for midsummer and late fall.
You could plant Onions, though I don't know when they flower.
Butterfly Weed, a dwarf Goldenrod, a dwarf Joe Pye Weed, are all plants commonly found growing along forest boarders. (Butterfly Weed is the host plant to the Monarch Butterfly too so you might see some caterpillars in August.)
There are small varieties of sunflowers. But stay away from the type with a million flower petals. You should be able to see the center of the plant where the seeds and pollen are. This applies to all flowers, especially Asters (sold side by side with Mums which are useless).
Trees:
Tulip poplar
Pussywillow (pollen)
Black Locust
Basswood
Gum
Red Maple (pollen)
Any early fruit trees (plums, apples, cherries, wild plums, chokecherries etc.)
Flowers:
Goldenrod
Chicory
Birdsfoot Trefoil
Dutch clover
white sweet clover
yellow sweet clover
crimson clover (not red)
prairie clover
dandelions
milkweed
I found this while looking for what to plant. http://www.themelissagarden.com/TMG_Vetaley031608.htm
Pumkins and other squash are fine. You don't have to plant anything else. A quarter acre of those will be very helpful to your bees. I wouldn't spend a dime on anything that you can't make a profit from as long as you have some squash or pumpkins.
PS I once did Hubbard Squash between the rows of 5 acres of table grapes to get some money for the first year (grapes take 2 or three) and I noticed that of all the squash they created the best weed control leaf barrier. We had some nasty thorns and the Hubbard Squash choked them out while other types of squash didn't.
Be prepared for a really big harvest of very large pumpkins or squash if you have bees by them.