Certain plants not only beautify your garden, they also provide bees and other insects with food and a suitable habitat. We introduce you to 10 bee-friendly plants for your home garden.
We at Plantura have collected a selection of the most bee-friendly plants for you! The list should help you to make your garden paradise attractive for the hard-working nectar collectors. Because bees in the garden not only convey a romantic country idyll, they are also relevant for our ecosystems. Here's a reminder of why supporting bees makes sense.
Unfortunately all that glitters is not gold and that also applies to the bee-friendliness of many garden plants. Below we present the top 10 most bee-friendly plants for your garden and balcony with a useful overview table at the end.
1. apple
The apple (Malus) is not only a popular fruit and ornamental tree, but it also takes first place in our ranking of bee-friendly plants. Alongside the cultivated apple varieties of Malus domestica , there is the crab apple (Malus sylvestris), whose flowers are no less valuable, but which do not produce any fruit that we can eat . The blossom, rich in nectar and pollen, extends from April to June and provides so much food for honey bees that, for the first time in the year, there is a surplus that can be used by beekeepers. Wild bees and other insects also find the apple attractive, partly because it provides additional honeydew due to moderate aphid infestation.
For a long time, dandelion (Taraxacum) was only considered an annoying weed in the lawn - the native wild plant is a real enrichment for every garden. In fact, the plant not only impresses with its pretty, bright yellow flowers, but is also edible. In addition, the dandelion is particularly bee-friendly: With a particularly high nectar and pollen value, the wild plant is considered to be an optimal source of food for the hard-working insects. From April to June and occasionally even into autumn, theBee-friendly plant has an abundance of food, which is why beekeepers consider it a particularly good early and also mass forage. In addition, their early flowering time is optimal for bees, since the rich flow of the dandelion has a positive effect on the structure of the bee colony after the winter. But not only honey bees benefit from the hard-working flower donors, wild bees are also very fond of the flower and love to fly to it.
3. Willow
All kinds of willows (Salix) are particularly popular with our diligent nectar collectors. Their flowering times are between March and June, so they are among the first to be available as bee food in our latitudes after the winter. Because early in the year it can still be too cold, wet or windy for the sensitive honey bees, the offer is particularly suitable for the more robust bumblebees and wild bees. The great variety of forms of the willow species extends from the mighty silver willow (Salix alba), which is up to 20 meters high, to the 5 to 8 meter high Sal willow (Salix caprea) to the shrubby Swiss willow (Salix helvetica), which grows to just a meter tall. All willow species prefer moist to wet and nutrient-rich soil in a sunny to semi-shady location.
With its long and, above all, late flowering period, the common coneflower (Helenium autumnale) is a particularly bee-friendly plant. From July to October, the blossom shines in all its splendor and magically attracts insects. In particular, their high nectar value is ideal for bees at this time of year, as they can fill up their stores before winter. But the good pollen count also makes the common coneflower a popular plant for bees. Other insects, including wild bees, butterflies and bumblebees, also like to fly at the sun bride. But not only insects enjoy the pretty plant: With its pretty yellow-red flowers, the common coneflower is also a great eye-catcher for people.
5. Ivy
Our native ivy (Hedera helix) is an important extension of the feeding period for bees and butterflies, as it is one of the few real autumn flowers. The green-yellow spherical umbels offer ofSeptember to October easily accessible nectar and pollen for wasps, beetles, flies and bees. In addition, the dense tangle of shoots and evergreen foliage provides a home for vulnerable small animals. It should be noted that the plants only flower when they are around 8 to 10 years old and have climbed up a support. Ivy grows on all soils - apart from pure peat - and in shady to sunny locations. Only in winter is the blazing sun badly tolerated.
The native seed sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) is a perennial with exceptionally high nectar and pollen value. Because it is very rich in protein and, as a deep-rooted legume, improves less fertile locations, it was and is used as a forage plant and for green manure. But their aesthetics don't have to hide either: the pink butterfly flowers appear from May to June and the pinnate leaves on the upright stems can be integrated very well into a classic perennial border or beautify dry areas of the garden that are difficult to plant. The seed sainfoin prefers sunny, warm locations.
7. Sloe
The sloe (Prunus spinosa) is also called blackthorn because of its thorny, black shoots. It is considered a valuable bee pasture because it is one of the early flowering shrubs. From April to May, when bees are encouraged to fly by rising temperatures, the sloe provides valuable nectar, a sufficient amount of pollen and serves both honey and wild bees and butterflies. In addition, the sloe is almost always infested with aphids, which excrete honeydew as an additional source of energy for insects. The splendor of white flowers smells amazing, and the fruits that develop from them can be eaten raw or processed after the first frost - or serve as winter food for birds. The sloe is very frugal in terms of location and thrives almost anywhere - except in flood plains.
8. sweet clover
Sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis) is not accidentally trivially called honey clover. It blooms from July to September and honey bees catch its yellow bloomstheir we alth of nectar is of great value. Some specialized wild bees can also benefit from honey clover, which is not least due to the four-month flowering period. As a pioneer plant, sweet clover thrives very well in sunny locations and on poor soil. It is more of a candidate for the "wild corner" of a garden and, as a nitrogen collector (legume), also improves the soil on which it grows.
Tip: While there's a lot of public interest right now on bees, here are more general tips for a bug-friendly garden.
9. Balcony Plants
Especially in densely built-up areas, insects are grateful for any source of nectar and pollen. The most bee-friendly balcony plants are oregano (Origanum vulgare), sunflower (Helianthus spec.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris ). Also the borage aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae), the globe flower (Trollius europaeus), all lily species (Lilium spec.) and the little winterling (Eranthis hyemalis) are valuable focal points for honeybees and wild bees. Incidentally, this combination would cover the entire flight time of the nectar-gathering insects.
Expert tip: Unfortunately, the classic balcony flowers are all too often of little help: geraniums (Pelargoinum), for example, which often only look pretty , but have nothing to offer for insects.
10. Raspberry
The raspberry (Rubus idaeus) has a long flowering period that lasts from May to August. The production of nectar and pollen can be described as good to very good. It is also an important food source for wild bees and grows in the garden, in forest zones and along paths in partially shaded to sunny areas. Because it spreads via root shoots, regular care or the installation of a root barrier is essential if you don't want the entire garden to be covered with raspberries.
Tip: Also sweet cherry (Prunus avium), sour cherry (Prunus cerasus) and Plums (Prunus domestica) are exceptionally good bee pastures, which just didn't make it into our top 10 due to lack of space.
Summary ofmost bee-friendly plants
In flowering time calendars, only the months in which the respective plants flower are marked. These charts make it easy to plan to provide a food source for bees and insects each month.
| Plant | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raspberry | x | x | x | x | ||||
| Balcony Plants | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Sweet Clover | x | x | x | |||||
| Sloe | x | x | ||||||
| Seed Sainfoin | x | x | ||||||
| Ivy | x | x | ||||||
| dandelion | x | x | x | |||||
| Willow | x | x | x | x | ||||
| Common Sun Bride | x | x | x | x | ||||
| Apple | x | x | x |
Tip: If you are short on time, you can help by doing nothing. Leave your faded perennials in autumn and do not cut them back. Wild bees find shelter here for the winter. You can also set up a “wild corner” in the garden if space permits. Anything that wants to grow there can sow there, and it is only mowed once in the fall. You may be surprised at the interesting and ornamental wild plants that settle here. This promotes overall species diversity and biodiversity in your garden. Seed mixtures like the Plantura bee pasture are also excellent for the bees in your garden. Due to the variety of bee-friendly flowers and herbs, the bee pasture provides food for the beneficial insects for many months.
Moths also need support in the garden. The 10 best butterfly-friendly plants are herehere.