Do your plants need pollinators? How to get more garden bees.

Learning to attract bees into your yard isn’t just about saving the bees, it’s also about making a pollinator-friendly environment to help boost your plants’ food production. Bees and other pollinators help create healthy, robust plants.

Honestly, it’s probably easier than you think. 

Easy ways to get more bees and pollinators into your garden

These are just five (of many) plants that do a wonderful job of attracting bees. Give Mother Nature a hand and incorporate a few in your garden. You’ll be glad you did!

Goldenrod

Goldenrod is a common perennial that grows freely in the United States, producing lots of tiny yellow flowers on drooping branches. During the early fall, these plants bloom to create fields of beautiful yellow-gold flowers, although they are often considered a nuisance due to the rate at which they spread.

Nevertheless, bees are drawn to goldenrod and it’s many nectar-filled blossoms and love to stock up on nectar before cold temperatures hit.

Lavender

If you have a garden in an area where lavender grows, you likely already have some. The popular perennial is very resilient and able to handle drought conditions and poor soil.

Lavender tends to bloom in late spring and start to attract bees shortly thereafter. Blooms have a pleasant scent and are often used in creating DIY room sprays and cleaning solutions.

Bee Balm

Bee balm is a must have if you want your garden to be a hangout for bees. These flowers have an exotic look and come in a variety of colors, which make them ideal for fitting in with your existing color scheme. It’s also irresistible to bees, who frequent the flowers in search of nectar.

Butterfly Weed

Butterfly weed is a milkweed plant, famous for serving as a home for monarch butterfly larvae. But, this doesn’t stop bees from visiting these vibrant orange flowers throughout the summer.

You might even see a few hummingbirds around your butterfly weed, whenever theres a break in insect action.

Echinacea

Echinacea, also known as coneflower, really stands out with its delicate leaves surrounding a central disk filled with pollen. These tall flowers keep bees coming to your garden throughout the late summer and early fall.

More ways to improve your garden