Unconventional nectary plants
Those of you who
overthink everything (like me) probaby plant nectaries for your bees. Yet,
despite what I read, our bees seem to prefer the flowers that aren't
listed in books.
Wild pollinators are supposed
to love members of the aster family, but our Echinacea is mostly
bare. On the other hand, the squash patch is humming so loudly I
was almost afraid to stick my hand in there to pluck dinner.
No one mentions it, but
our asparagus is a hotbed of tiny pollinators in the spring and early
summer. And when I was down in South Carolina, I discovered the
holy grail of the local wild pollinator contingent --- oregano.
Which unconventional
nectary plants do you see abuzz with life right now?
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Of course squash, in fact a few days ago, I saw a squash beetle on one of the blossoms and squished the whole blossom by clapping my hands together on it. Wouldn't you know a poor honey bee was in there and started buzzing around when I clapped. I'm not normally afraid of bees, but I dropped that one seriously quick!
The other wierd one here is ONION flower! I never in a million years would havet thought that one would be an attractor.
In early June the lavender was a mass of bees. My granddaughter (14) took some amazing photos, she was fascinated with all the activity going on!
My Egyptian onions are shooting up already! Still haven't planted the second row. Tomorrow!
Steph --- Onion flowers --- fascinating!
Debbi --- I've considered planting lavender for the bees because I've heard they love it (and the nectar's supposed to make great honey.) But it's only marginally hardy here, so I haven't managed it yet. So glad your onions are working for you!