We live in PA (zone 5) and I am hoping to plant flowers this year to attract more bees. Any suggestions?
Zinnias seem to attract bees. Sunflowers. Any kind of allium. Herbs, especially oregano. Let the goldenrod come up on the sidelines. Just a few suggestions to get you started.
I spent many many hours last winter researching some of the best bee plants for pollen and nectar. I have a list compiled that I am posting. Good luck.
The flowers that I found most attractive beyond your wildest dreams were: phacelia tanacetifolia (blue tansy), borage officinalis, California poppy and the cornflower. Smothered in bees all summer long (and the bombus too, along with other beneficials). HOpe this gives you a great number of good bee plants to make some choices from. There are many many more, but these are my choices. Great day. Cindi
BEE PLANT LIST
Centaurea Blue Boy Bachelors Button -- Bees and hover flies love
Borage officinalis -- Bees love it, cousin to comfrey, not affected by rain because of drooping blue flowers
Agastache (Anise Hyssop) -- loved by bees
Comfrey -- Bees love it
Centaurea Dwarf polkdot mix Bachelors Button -- Bees and hoverflies love it
Consolida (larkspur) Consolida ambigua -- attracts beneficials
Eryngium planum Sea holly -- Bees are mad about this variety
Thyme T. Vulgaris -- a good honey plant for bees (thymus vulgaris)
Fireweed -- excellent honey, bees love it
Canary Creeper T. peregrinum -- bees love it, late late pollen plant
Cosmos â€"- valuable for late nectar source
Phacelia tanacetifolia (Purple Tansy) -- attracts bee from miles
Poppy giganthemum p. somniferum poppyseed poppy
California poppy “Apricot chiffonâ€eschscholzia californica -- bees love it
Catnip Nepeta Cataria -- a good bee plant
Lemon Balm Melissa officinanlis -- Perennial, bees love it
Hyssop Hyssopus officinalis Perennial, -- bees, hoverflies
Lovage Levisticum officinale -- bees love it
Spearmint Mentha spicata blooms late summer, --- bees, hummingbirds
Helipterum (Acroclinium) helipterum roseum Sensation Giants Mix
Yellow rocket
Impatiens capensis grows wild around my house, great for late nectar/pollen, lasts til frost-kill
Great Blue Lobelia L. siphilitica perennial, dappled light, self-sows, flowers summer through autumn
Salvia Violet Queen S nemorosa -- particularly attractive to butterflies & bees Flowers 2nd year
Crimson clover Trifolium incarnatum outstanding cut flowers, -- annual, bees love it
Buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum -- bees love it, turn under 10 days after flowering to avoid seed drop
White Dutch Clover Trifolium repens -- all beneficial insects
Enjoy and great day. Cindi