Bee-friendly gardening

Contents
Contents..........................................................................................................................1
Tips for a bee friendly garden........................................................................................2
Useful Links:..............................................................................................................3
List of Plants recommended by the RHS.......................................................................3
Annuals.......................................................................................................................3
Biennials.....................................................................................................................3
Herbaceous perennials................................................................................................3
Bulbs and corms.........................................................................................................4
Vegetables and culinary herbs ...................................................................................4
Trees and shrubs.........................................................................................................5
Wild flowers ..............................................................................................................6
BBKA list of flowering trees.....................................................................................7

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Tips for a bee friendly garden
Choose a variety of bee-friendly plants that provide nectar and pollen for bees. Find
alternatives to double flowers and to sterile hybrids.

Plant in drifts to enable bees to forage efficiently. You can attract bees to pollinate
your fuit and veg crops by planting drifts of attractive flowers nearby.

Plant a succession of plants to flower throughout the year. Winter and early spring
flowering shrubs and bulbs can help bees take advantage of warm weather spells at
this time of year. When honey bees start laying eggs in Spring, they have a sudden
need for food supplies and can die of starvation if they cannot access enough food. In
the countryside, the first flowering plants are willow, hazel, and blackthorn. In
gardens we have shrubs such as mahonia, osmanthus, cherry and early bulbs such as
crocus, snow drops and winter aconite.

The ‘June gap’ is another potentially dangerous time for honey bees: by now they
have built up large colonies and need a lot of food but there may be a flowering gap as
Spring flowers finish and Summer is not yet in full flow. Useful plants are
cotoneaster, salvia, scabious

Create a sheltered garden to help bees forage. (In addition, if you plan to keep
honey bees in the garden then a high hedge, wall or fence is important to raise the
bees’ flight path).

Provide water in the garden. It doesn’t have to be much – honey bees drink from
shallow puddles

Provide habitats for wild bees. You can do this by leaving nooks and crannies in an
‘untidy area’ and by positioning bee nests

Plant a tree if you have room. There are a lot of flowers on one tree! If you don’t
have much space consider training a small tree against a wall

Window boxes and containers. Some annual bedding plants such as pelargonium
and begonias are no use to bees: they are very low in nectar and they tend to have
complicated floral structures, which make it hard to reach their centres. However,
beautiful containers can be made to attract bees throughout the seasons using bulbs,
small flowering shrubs, herbs and long-flowering summer plants such as salvias,
scaboius, lavender, nemesia

Avoid pesticides

Leave a patch of clover on the lawn

Clover is a rich source of food for bees providing the weather is warm enough for
them to access it!

Weeds and wild plants Many weeds such as brambles and thistles are really useful to
bees so let yourself off the hook if you can’t find time for weeding! However,

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although invasive non-native plants such as Himalayan balsam provide a terrific food
source for bees, they are causing problems in the wild and should be removed if
found.

Useful Links:
Oxford Beekeepers Association:
British Beekeepers’ Association:
Bumble bee Conservation Trust:
Royal Horticultural Society:
Amazing bee photographs:
http://www.oxfordshirebeekeepers.com/
http://www.britishbee.org.uk
http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk
http://www.rhs.org.uk/
http://www.thehoneygatherers.com/html/index_en.html

List of Plants recommended by the RHS

Annuals
Borage (Borago officinalis)
Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)
Californian poppy (Eschscholzia californica)
Candytuft (Iberis species)
China aster (Callistephus chinensis)
Clarkia (Clarkia species)
Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)
Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)
Forget-me-not (Myosotis species)
Gilia capitata
Godetia (Clarkia species)
Heliotrope (Heliotropium cultivars)
Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena)
Mignonette (Reseda odorata)
Nemophila menziesii
Phacelia species
Poached egg plant (Limnanthes douglasii)
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
Sweet sultan (Amberboa moschata)
Zinnia (Zinnia elegans)

Biennials
French honeysuckle (Hedysarum coronarium)
Hollyhock - single flowered (Alcea rosea)
Honesty (Lunaria annua)
Wallflower (Erysimum species)

Herbaceous perennials
Agastache foeniculum
Alyssum species
Anchusa azurea
Arabis species
Aubrieta species
Bellflowers (Campanula species)

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Catmints (Nepeta species)
Cranesbill (Geranium species)
Dahlia - single-flowered species and cultivars
Eryngium species
Fleabane (Erigeron species)
Geum species
Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus)
Globe thistle (Echinops ritro)
Golden rod (Solidago species)
Gypsophila paniculata
Helenium species
Hellebores (Helleborus species)
Ice plant (Sedum spectabile)
Jacob's ladder (Polemonium caeruleum)
Japanese anemone (Anemone × hybrida)
Lambs' ears (Stachys byzantina)
Leopard's bane (Doronicum species)
Liatris spicata
Michaelmas daisies (Aster species)
Monarda punctata
Oriental poppy (Papaver orientale)
Persicaria amplexicaule
Rudbeckia species
Salvia x superba
Scabious (Scabiosa species)
Sea hollies (Eryngium species)
Sidalcea malviflora
Thrift (Armeria maritima)
Verbena bonariensis
Veronica longifolia
White horehound (Marrubium vulgare)

Bulbs and corms

Allium species
Autumn crocus (Colchicum species)
Crocus species
Fritillaries (Fritillaria species)
Glory of the snow (Chionodoxa luciliae)
Grape hyacinth (Muscari species)
Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis)
Siberian squill (Scilla siberica)
Snowdrops (Galanthus species)
Snowflakes (Leucojum and Acis species)
Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)

Vegetables and culinary herbs

Asparagus
Brassicas left to flower
Broad bean
Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis)

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Marjoram (Origanum species)
Marrow and other cucurbits
Mint (Mentha species)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Runner bean
Sage (Salvia officinalis)
Thyme (Thymus species)

Trees and shrubs

Acer
Almond (Prunus dulcis)
Apple, including ornamental Malus
Barberry (Berberis species)
Blackberry
Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)
Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata)
Box (Buxus sempervirens)
Brooms (Cytisus species)
Caryopteris
Ceanothus species (spring-flowering types)
Cherry, including single-flowered ornamental types
Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)
Christmas box (Sarcococca species)
Clematis cirrhosa
Cotoneaster species
Currants, red, black, white and ornamental Ribes species
Daisy bush (Olearia species)
Daphne mezereum
Dogwood (Cornus alba)
Enkianthus campanulatus
Escallonia hybrids
False acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia)
Firethorn (Pyracantha cultivars)
Fuchsia species
Gaultheria shallon
Gooseberry
Gorse (Ulex species)
Hawthorns (Crataegus species)
Hazel (Corylus avellana)
Heather (Calluna vulgaris)
Heathers (Erica species)
Hebe species
Holly (Ilex aquifolium)
Horse chestnuts (Aesculus species)
Hypericum species
Indian bean tree (Catalpa bignonioides)
Ivy (Hedera helix)
Japanese quince (Chaenomeles speciosa and C. x superba)
Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum)
Koelreuteria paniculata

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Lavender (Lavandula species)
Lime (Tilia species) - note Tilia tomentosa ‘Petiolaris’ nectar is sometimes harmful to
bumblebees
Loganberry
Lonicera × purpusii
Mahonia aquifolium
Maples (Acer species)
Mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia)
Orange ball buddleia (Buddleja globosa)
Osmanthus
Pear and ornamental Pyrus species
Perovskia atriplicifolia
Plums
Potentilla fruticosa
Raspberry
Rock rose (Helianthemum species)
Rose - single-flowered species types (Rosa species)
Snowberry (Symphoricarpos species)
Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo)
Sweet bay (Laurus nobilis)
Tetradium daniellii
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
Weigela florida and hybrids
Willows, male forms, especially goat willow (Salix caprea)

Wild flowers
Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)
Birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
Burdock (Arctium lappa)
Charlock (Sinapis arvensis)
Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Clovers (Trifolium species)
Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Devil's bit scabious (Succisa pratensis)
Field scabious (Knautia arvensis)
Figworts (Scrophularia species)
Hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)
Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium)
Horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa)
Knapweeds (Centaurea species)
Knotgrasses (Polygonum species)
Lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria)
Mallows (Malva species)
Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)
Meadow clary (Salvia pratensis)
Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)
Poppies (Papaver species)
Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
Red deadnettle (Lamium purpureum)

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Rose bay willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium)
Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)
Thistles (Cirsium species)
Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris)
Traveller's joy (Clematis vitalba)
Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
Viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare)
White bryony (Bryonia dioica)
White melilot (Melilotus alba)
Yellow melilot (M. officinalis)
Yellow trefoil (Trifolium dubium)

BBKA list of flowering trees

February
Acacia dealbata
Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’
Salix spp.
March
Alnus cordata
Alnus glutinosa
Alnus incana
Corylus avellana
Corylus maxima
Prunus cerasifera
April
Amelanchier lamarckii
Acer campestre
Acer negundo
Acer platanoides
Acer macrophyllum
Cercis siliquastrum
Cydonia oblonga
Malus spp.
Liquidambar styraciflua
Prunus avium
May
Sorbus x arnoldiana
Aesculus hippocastanum
Crateagus monogyna
Crataegus oxyacantha
Crataegus crus-galli
Mespilus germanica
Sorbus aucuparia
Sorbus intermedia
Ilex spp.
June
Sorbus aria
Tilia tomentosa
Robinia pseudoacacia
Robinia hispida

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Liriodendron tulipifera
Tilia x europaea
July
Castanea sativa
Ailanthus altissima
Tilia platyphyllos
Tilia ‘Petiolaris’
August
Koelreuteria paniculata
Catalpa bignoniodes
September
Tetradium daniellii

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