To help feed the bees and butterflies, and maybe some hummingbirds, I am planting the usual marigolds plus poppies, delphiniums and zinnias, plus the okra and roselle, and my stand by of various sunflowers just because sunflowers also make me laugh. Some Tansy by the back door too, though it can be invasive, but it repels bugs, and will also plant it in with squashes as it repels the squash bugs.

There's already the roses and crepe myrtle too.

Since I put African Blue Basil in the yard the bees go to other plants as an afterthought. Such a variety of bees; mesmerizing to watch. ABB is not frost hardy but so I keep cuttings rooting in water on the kitchen windowsill.

The larger butterflies are crazy for zinnia, Hamelia and fire spike as are the hummingbirds. Oh, and the salvias, of course!

Celosia and Cosmos re-seed and volunteer here annually and are great bee attractors...Chrysanthemums too...

While it's not a 'flower', I let my large oregano patch go to flower and it attracts more bees than you could imagine...Hundreds of them...
On a calm day, you can hear them and see the oregano patch vibrate from all the bees...It's quite wonderful...

I find oregano and others in the mint family the best for bees.

Yes, the bees ove the herbsand I always let some basil bloom for them too.

They have ornamental oregano. For years I has oregano "Herrnhausen" with its gorgeous clusters of purple flowers.

I took part in a flower seed swap, and acquired from various sources, the following that I'll be busy planting:

Balloon flower Toraji
basil lemon
basil lime
bergamot, pink
bergamot, white
Blackberry lily
calendula resina
columbine
Cosmos, lemon bird.
Cypress vine
Delphinium, prism sea blue
Gaillardia
Hyacinth Bean, purple, annual
Hyacinth Bean, white, annual
hyssop officinalis
Iberis, candytuft
Korean Mint/ purple giant hyssop
lemon balm
Lemon bee balm
Marigold, blonde ambition
Marigold, brocade mix
Marigold, cottage red
Marigold, lemon gem
Marigold, naughty marietta
Marigold, new world strawberry blonde
Marigolds Sparky Mix
Maypop
Milkweed, butterfly weed
Milkweed, Prairie
Milkweed, Purple
Milkweed, Spider
Milkweed, swamp
Milkweed, swan
Milkweed, syriaca
Milkweed, whorled
Morning glory, crimson rambler
Morning glory, wild blue
Nasturtium
Navajo Tea
Nicotiana
Odd blazing star
Oxeye Sunflower
Poor man's orchid, schizanthus pinnatus
Purple blazing star
Rose campion
Rudbeckia hirta 'Sahara'
Rudbeckia hirta Tiger Eye
Safflower
Tickseed
Yarrow summer pastel
Zinnia Canary bird
Zinnia Persian Carpet

Exhaustedly yours,
Nan

Nan that is a great list of plants! I grew most of them last year. I had bees everywhere and by the end of September I could not go out into the garden because they were too thick. I love them but I am allergic to them.
Enjoy your garden. It's going to be gorgeous.

PlainJane wrote: ↑Thu Jan 30, 2020 5:46 am Since I put African Blue Basil in the yard the bees go to other plants as an afterthought. Such a variety of bees; mesmerizing to watch. ABB is not frost hardy but so I keep cuttings rooting in water on the kitchen windowsill.

The larger butterflies are crazy for zinnia, Hamelia and fire spike as are the hummingbirds. Oh, and the salvias, of course!

Same here. The bees are nuts over the African Blue Basil. When I trim it (it gets huge) the bees will follow the cuttings to the green can.

For the pollinators I grow:
Zinnias,
Sunflowers
Basil
Cosmos
Calendula
Milkweed
Marigolds
Nasturtium
Passion Vine
I also have Arizona Bells (Tecoma stans) and some salvia cultivars
for the humming birds as well as feeders.

Imp, it makes me happy to know sunflowers make you laugh. I thought I was the only one!

Nan, you'll have such a vibrant, humming, colorful garden! The bees really do love the bergamots and lemon bee balm, and they're such pretty, unique plants. Maypop is passionflower, right? Have you grown it before? Does it grow well as an annual?

I always try to set aside around 10% of the veggie garden for flowers and other things to attract the beneficial bugs (and hummingbirds, because it feels so special when they visit). I wish I could remember where I read 10% is about what it takes to keep things in balance, but it really stuck with me. Last year it was surprising to see how much the bees actually like dahlias left past their prime, and those became a favorite place for the bumblebees to sleep. This year I'm most eager to see the phlox, bee balms, sunflowers and open-faced snapdragons dancing in the breeze alongside the dahlias. There will be lots of others though too

The sunflowers really do often make me laugh when I look at them, have no idea why really, but they strike me funny. I have several sorts, ranging from the OMG look how tall it is types to the dwarf 2 footers. I'm going to mass some of the flowers and herbs a bit, but also scatter them in with the veggies too.

I just looked up the African Blue Basil and it only grows from cuttings. Plug liners are not only expensive, but way too many too. Sounds like a good bee plant too.

The only non-edible flower I have planted is alyssum - a low lying, no work (I like that!) ground cover that is always attracting bees! I had a large patch of it next to the main part of my garden, but I made that into a row of asparagus, so last year I planted a bunch more alyssums behind my shed. They came up some, but will take a few years to get as heavy as before. I also have some Syrian oregano (a.k.a. thyme scented oregano) that I rooted a bunch of cuttings from, and planted out there - they flowered like crazy, and had bees all over them, so I figured I'd see if they are cold resistant. So far, a good sized one is still green, but this winter has been a mild one. I still have two on my back porch, just in case. Another thing the bees like that I keep in that area behind the shed is garlic chives. I used to keep them closer, but those things are incredible weeds! Regular chives flower early, but I never had any of them spread, like the garlic chives, which flower at least 3 times, in this area.

Another herb that attracts bees to my garden is sage, at least the Italian variety I have - the large leaf sage doesn't flower. And up on my deck, the curry tree flowers, with a sickening sweet aroma (like some ornamental, but I don't know those!), which I would clip off, if it wasn't so attractive to bees! I grew a new (to me, that is - Everleaf) basil last year, that was supposed to be the best for resisting bolting. Turned out to bolt the fastest of all 3 that I grew! However, I am going to plant some out in my garden and let it attract the bees! No use wasting the seeds.

Alyssum is such a bright cheery plant and smells great when you walk by. I like to edge my gardens with it. The bees and butterflies are always enjoying it.

NaN, I’m so impressed you are starting seeds for all those flowers. I toss out the occasional nasturtium and zinnia seed and call it a day.

pepperhead212 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 30, 2020 6:16 pm The only non-edible flower I have planted is alyssum - a low lying, no work (I like that!) ground cover that is always attracting bees!

I was going to mention this too. Alyssum is a small flower and it attracts hordes of really tiny little bees. I usually plant a patch of it right in the garden. It doesn't take much space and the bees just love it.

[mention]pepperhead212[/mention] you may be surprised to see honeybees on your asparagus when it flowers. Mine is always covered with honeybees and the pollen is orange. You can really see it on their legs.

I have also tried to plant additional flowers for the bees since times are so tough for them with pesticides. I find that the herbs, especially oregano, in my yard are their favorites. I also have perennial sedum which blooms in the fall when other flowers are becoming scarce. They just love sedum. I have seen at least 5 different kinds of bees on those flowers at any one time.

2 years ago I discovered Tithonia which is also called Mexican Sunflower. It is a butterfly magnet!! It is the only flower that I start from seed and it is SO worth it. The flowers are bright orange and really attractive. It is a large bushy plant, not like a standard sunflower. I usually plant one near the living room window and when we are sitting there we can see the butterflies just coming and going non-stop.

Every year I plant out zinnias (just red and yellow) and dwarf marigolds while Pickles plants sunflowers.

There's a patch of small, light blue mums (I think that's what they are) that started from a few rooted pieces given to me by a friend. They're late summer/fall bloomers and boy, the bees love them and they sure have spread! Good thing they're in a bed with timbered sides.

This year, since I'm now into watching the butterflies in the garden, I'm adding some stuff for them. Purple coneflower, Lemon Mint Monarda, Indian Summer Rudbeckia, and Red Torch Tithonia will be added in the garden along with extra sage. After reading about alyssum in this thread I think I'll pick up a pack of that seed at WalMart.

Nan, after reading your list I have to go take a nap.

PlainJane wrote: ↑Fri Jan 31, 2020 6:00 am NaN, I’m so impressed you are starting seeds for all those flowers. I toss out the occasional nasturtium and zinnia seed and call it a day.

I'm not starting seeds for everything; most of the warm-sow varieties I'll just plant out. The wintersown and ones I consider extra-valuable are being started indoor (or outdoor, depending on their needs), that's about 35 out of the 52.

Root_Grow: " Maypop is passionflower, right? Have you grown it before? Does it grow well as an annual?" This is the one that's hardy in my area. I've never grown it before but have always admired it.

The plant that attracts the most honeybees in my yard is the butterfly weed. The one that attracts the most big bumblebees is any of the monardas/bee balms. I have a porcelain vine in my front yard that attracts the most vespids (wasps) -some normal wasps but a TON of small & tiny waspy things. A large spider web in my spearmint showed a startling array of pollinators were visiting.

After many years of only planting what we could eat I put in a flower garden again a few seasons ago. Not only to the flowers make me smile I love seeing the butterflies and bees enjoying them too. What I'll have and the dates I'll be sowing the seeds.

Jan 1
Lisianthus

Feb 1
Lavender
Scabiosa
Snapdragons
Pansy
Echinacea
Impatiens

Feb 15th
Monarda
Dianthus
Rudbeckia
Petunia
Sweet William
African Daisy

March 1
Amaranthus
Strawflower
Asters
Calendula

March 15
Cosmos

Direct sow
Bachelor Button
Fennel
Sunflowers
Zinnia
Coreopsis
Morning Glory

Already established are the hollyhocks, garden phlox and Cape Daisies.

Patihum that is a great list and a lot of flowers to be sown. I'm glad to see that you are starting your own Impatiens. Those bought from the big stores mostly carry the Impatiens downy mildew which spreads so very rapidly and takes years to get rid of. I love my veggie garden but my flower garden is special because it is so full of life.

imp wrote: ↑Thu Jan 30, 2020 12:10 pm The sunflowers really do often make me laugh when I look at them, have no idea why really, but they strike me funny. I have several sorts, ranging from the OMG look how tall it is types to the dwarf 2 footers. I'm going to mass some of the flowers and herbs a bit, but also scatter them in with the veggies too.

I just looked up the African Blue Basil and it only grows from cuttings. Plug liners are not only expensive, but way too many too. Sounds like a good bee plant too.

I bought 3 small ABB plants 2 years ago and since then have just taken my own cuttings. I have an area about 6x9 ft covered and am starting another of about the same size, plus several additional plantings along the driveway.