Anybody Plant Flowers or Shrubs for Bees?

tlh2865

Active Member
Anybody out there plant anything with honey bees in mind? I want to make sure I have plenty around for my fruit trees.
 
My wife and I plant a lot of flowering shrubs for bees and hummingbirds. I also plant a lot of clovers and buckwheat. We have 6 flowering shrubs in front of the house that were here when were moved in. My wife calls them wedding bushes. They attract more bees and butterflies than anything I've ever seen. Have tried to start from cuttings but no success yet.
 
My wife and I plant a lot of flowering shrubs for bees and hummingbirds. I also plant a lot of clovers and buckwheat. We have 6 flowering shrubs in front of the house that were here when were moved in. My wife calls them wedding bushes. They attract more bees and butterflies than anything I've ever seen. Have tried to start from cuttings but no success yet.
Jack does your shrub look like this ? If so it's a bridal wreath spirea. I have several on the south side of my house.
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Jack does your shrub look like this ? If so it's a bridal wreath spirea. I have several on the south side of my house.
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That sure looks like the right plant. Ours never get that flush with flowers, but they do attract a lot of attention from pollen seekers. They also bloom almost the entire growing season. If you trim them up, they flush out again. Maybe some fertilizer would help them fill out better. They are all in the roof drip line.
 
Holy crap Native. What did it take to get all that going?

Step 1: Don't listen to experts.

Step 2: Plan based on your goals and what you have to work with. Divide your land by the attributes of the land (fertility, slope, soil moisture, shade, etc.... Then grow plants that fit the attributes. Never think of a farm as just a farm - unless every square inch of it is exactly the same.

Step 3: Kill fescue and existing undesirables twice.

Step 4: Drill in a mixes of grasses and forbs you want.

Step 5: Pray for good rains.

Step 6: Watch closely as it develops and give the advantage to plants you desire (those that you drilled and those that nature provides) while setting back stuff from the seedbank you don't want. This is done via strategically timed mowing, spot spraying, area spraying, light ground disturbance and other methods. The seed bank will be both your friend and enemy.

Step 7: Maintain one time annually with possibly hitting a hot spot or two as necessary at other times of the year. For me, just before fawning is my primary annual maintenance time. Use the same methods you used in Step 4, but tailor it to your desires and goals. Use your head and work with nature instead of against it. Let nature tell you what choices you have for certain land areas and you pick from that list. Don't fight nature and try growing stuff that nature doesn't want. The tickseed sunflower you see in those pictures came from the seedbank. All I did was create the opportunity for it to flourish by killing a million ironweeds that were keeping it from germinating.
 
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I sure did. I thought you did a great job with that, and love the fact that you are leading young folks to love the outdoors.
Thank you, I disced a path around my plots yesterday with the hopes of bringing some good native seeds to the surface and let these natives provide a second edge.
 
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