In The Garden — Bee Friendly Gardening
By AMANDA ZAMBRANO
Master Gardener Intern
For a number of years now, there has been a growing concern about the poor health of bee colonies and the subsequent impact on the environment. From 1947 to 2008, bee hives have declined rapidly, from 6 million hives to 2.4 million hives. This reduction has come about as a result of global climate change, colony collapse disorder and harmful industrial agriculture practices, as well as reduced rural landscapes that once provided ample homes to bees.
While the average suburban gardener can’t do much to stem colony collapse disorder or global climate change, there is a lot we can do to make our gardens more hospitable to our resident pollinators. As the mother of a toddler, I’m sensitive to the concerns of inviting stinging insects into the yard, but if those stinging insects are happy and well-fed, they are far less likely to pose a stinging problem.
If, like me, you’re interested in helping out the local beehives, here are a few tips to make your garden more bee friendly.
The most important thing in your bee friendly garden is selecting the right flowers to provide the best food for bees and other pollinators. While we’re inclined to fill our gardens with the glorious and exotic butterfly bush, most pollinators would be better served by native flowers. A few butterfly bushes is a wonderful treat for our winged friends, but they will be much happier with bee balm, black-eyed susans, and goldenrod.
Select single top flowers, rather than double blooms – opt for daisies or marigolds instead of the lovely double impatiens. While the double blooms are beautiful, they produce less nectar than their single blossom counterparts. The double blossoms make it more difficult for bees and other pollinators to access the pollen. Avoid using pesticides on your pollinator garden, and select natural fertilizers that won’t cause illness or injury to bees or butterflies.
Select a variety of flowering plants that will provide pollen from spring through late fall. Select a mixture of flowers that bloom all summer and into the fall along with some that flower in each season. Bees need nourishment throughout the growing season, so planting some things to provide nectar from early spring through the fall keeps them happy all year long. Many gardening catalogs and garden centers are now offering pollinator packs, or seed blends to grow pollinator gardens. These can be helpful – be sure you’re looking for Zone 5 friendly plants!
As you head to the garden shop, here are some great pollinator friendly flowers to consider adding to your garden: bee balm, verbena, cleome, rudbeckia, butterfly weed, garden phlox, zinnias and goldenrod.