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In order for bees to benefit from a colorful garden, you should choose the right plants. We feature the top 10 bee-friendly perennials.
From spring to late autumn, bees (Apidae) need thousands of flowers to provide them with pollen and nectar. Long-flowering perennials are particularly easy to care for and productive, and they are also a lot of fun for the gardener. In this article we have summarized the top 10 most beautiful perennials for you. This list should also give you ideas on how to make your garden even more insect-friendly.
Perennials are perennial plants, which - unlike shrubs - die off above ground in winter and sprout again and again in spring. Accordingly, we can look forward to the pretty garden dwellers for a long time. Below we present ten wonderful flowering perennials for your own home garden.
1. Masterwort
A beautiful representative of the umbelliferae (Apiaceae) is the masterwort (Astrantia major). It is a forest and meadow perennial native to Central Europe and occurs primarily at higher altitudes of up to 2000 meters. The flowers on long flower stalks at a height of about 70 centimeters offer a very special sight. The small flower umbels are each surrounded by a star-shaped wreath of colored bracts. The masterwort likes to stand on calcareous, moist loamy soil with a good supply of nutrients. It doesn't need a lot of sun, but it tolerates it if the water supply is right. It is considered a true magnet for bumblebees, bees and other insects.
The yarrow (Achillea sp.) belongs to the daisy family (Asteraceae) are available in a wide variety of colors and heights. Depending on the yarrow species, the plant with the filigree pinnate leaves can reach a height of 10 to 150 centimetres. The many small flowers are arranged in umbels and beguile many hard-working pollinators with their very own scent from June tointo autumn. The outer petals are rich pink through crimson to fiery orange, yellow and white. Yarrow prefers light, well-drained soil in full sun. In order to be able to enjoy the flowers every year, the perennial should be divided every few years and thus rejuvenated.
3. Blanket Flower
Large-flowered Blanket Flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora) is a hybrid of a herbaceous Gaillardia grandifloraand the annual Gaillardia pulchella. The blanket flower forms large basket flowers, which are either yellow or dark in the middle. The outer halo of ray florets is either monochromatic yellow to dark red or attractively colored in two colors. The flowering period lasts from July to October and thus provides busy pollinators with food for an extremely long time. As a steppe plant, it is sensitive to waterlogging and likes well-drained, light soil.
Vervain (Verbena officinalis) delights every year with a splendor of delicate violet flowers, which bees in particular find irresistible. It is closely related to the wonderfully fragrant lemon verbena (Lippia citriodora). As a medicinal plant, it is used in alternative medicine for headaches and depression. Nowadays it can be found in many gardens as a flowering perennial, where it can reach a height of up to 80 centimeters in favorable locations. Verbena can produce long-stemmed flowers again and again from June to October and is therefore one of the long-flowering perennials. Verbena prefers to grow in nutrient-poor, rather dry and sunny to semi-shady locations.
5. Wasserdost
The water daffodil (Eupatorium sp.) belongs to the daisy family (Asteraceae) and has long been known as a medicinal plant to accelerate wound healing and as a stimulating herb. As its name suggests, it feels particularly at home near ponds and bodies of water. Depending on the variety, it reaches a height of about 80 centimeters to over two meters. From June to September, the pretty white, purple or wine-red pseudo umbels provide plenty of food. Unlike many othersFor bee perennials, the water daffodil prefers a semi-shady, moist location. In early spring, the nutrient-hungry perennial is also happy about a dose of compost.
The fragrant catnip (Nepeta cataria), so popular with our cuddly tigers, also offers bees nectar and pollen in spring from April. Like thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), the delicate blue, violet or white flowering perennial belongs to the mint family ( Lamiaceae). Naturally, the up to 1.40 meter high perennial is swarmed by many insects. Catnip is very undemanding and grows best on poor, well-drained soil in sunny locations. They can be cut back after the first bloom, encouraging a second bloom in the summer.
7. Sedum
The stonecrop (Sedum spectabile) has coarse, thick fleshy leaves and forms large inflorescences with many small individual flowers. All colors are represented, from white to sunny yellow to deep red. Depending on the species, the sedum reaches a height of up to 80 centimeters. From June to September, the hardy perennial is a popular pasture for bees. Well-drained and nutrient-rich soil is ideal for planting sedum plants, and since it always carries its water supply with it in its thick leaves, drought doesn't bother it much.
8. Aster
The group of asters (Aster) gives its name to the daisy family of plants (Asteraceae). The name means "star", which alludes to the radially arranged petals. The asters include above all the smooth-leaf aster (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii) and the rough-leaf aster (Symphyotrichum novi-angliae) as well as the Myrtle aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides) and the dwarf cushion aster (Symphyotrichum dumosus). All these perennials are popular with butterflies and bees. From July until late autumn, the asters, which can grow up to three meters high, are very busy every day. In terms of colour, asters cover all nuances from dark violet to pink, but also red and orange to white and thus wonderfully complement every bed.
9. Goldenrod
Goldenrods (Solidago canadensis) are real insect magnets. During the flowering period from June to September, the high perennials hum audibly. This golden yellow prairie perennial from North America forms long canes on which many small yellow single flowers are located. In the wild, it spreads widely through self-seeding and has already conquered the whole of Europe and large parts of Asia. Therefore, faded seeds should be cut off immediately and composted. Goldenrods prefer medium to heavy, chalky soil in full sun. The goldenrod is also extremely undemanding when it comes to nutrients and water. It is used as a medicinal herb in homeopathy. It has a positive effect on kidney problems.
10. Indian nettle
The Indian nettle (Monarda didyma), which can grow up to 150 centimetres, is also called bee balm, although its flowers are bright red. From June to August it is eagerly visited by various bees and butterflies. This perennial has a fresh, fruity scent of lemon and its leaves can therefore also be prepared as a tea. It originally comes from North America and loves bright and warm locations with a good water supply. In spring it shoots up rapidly and is therefore happy about annual fertilizer applications.
Tip: So that you don't have to look for different plants for your bee-friendly garden, there are also insect-friendly seed mixtures. The Plantura bee pasture, for example, provides the bees and bumblebees in your garden with food for months.
If you not only want to do something good for bees, but also for our native butterflies, take a look at our special article on the top 10 butterfly-friendly plants or the 15 most beautiful bee shrubs.