SouthWestern Ohio Beekeepers Association SWOBA
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Bee Friendly Plants/Trees
Flowers
| Best Easy to Find and Grow Flowers for Bees |
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| Echium (Viper’s Bugloss) |
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| Phacelia (Tansy) |
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| Sage-Blue Bedder, Russian |
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| Catanache (Cupid’s Dart) |
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| Centaurea (Bachelor’s Buttons) |
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| Sunflower (Check to make sure the variety is not pollen free) |
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| Asclepias (Milkweeds, esp Incarnata and Green Milkweed |
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| Goldenrod species |
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| Asters |
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| Melissa Officianalis (Lemon Balm) |
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| Echinacea (Purple Coneflower, Clasping Coneflower) |
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| Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan) |
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| Monarda (Spotted Bee Balm) |
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| Lobelia (Native Blue) |
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| Cosmos (Single flowered varieties |
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| Poppies (California and Oriental varieties) |
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| Best Late Winter-Early Spring Flowers for Bees |
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| Winter Aconite |
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| Siberian Squill |
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| Snowdrops (Galanthes) |
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| Dicentra (Bleeding Heart) |
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| Spring Flowering Crocus |
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| Bluebells(try Virginia Bluebells) |
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| Lenten Rose (Helleborus Orientalis) |
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| Tulips- use by bees depends on the variety |
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| Best Spring/Summer Flowers for Bees |
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| Eryngium) Poppy |
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| Borage Officianalis Chives |
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| Bugle (Ajuga) Crane’s Bill Geranium |
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| Thyme Cerinthe purpurasceus (Blue Honeywort) |
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| Lupine Achillea |
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| Pentstemon\Salvia Echinops |
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| Allium Gaillardia |
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| Sweet Pea |
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| Passion Flower |
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| Muscari |
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| Forget-me-not (Myosotis) |
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| Foxglove |
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| Best Summer-Autumn Flowers for Bees |
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| Scorpion Weed (Phacelia Tanacetifolia) |
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| Sedum (Stonecrop) |
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| Goldenrod (Solidago) |
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| Cornflowers (Bachelor’s Buttons) |
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| Salvia |
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| Nasturtium |
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| Scabiosa |
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| Sunflower |
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| Veronica |
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| Nepeta (Catmint) |
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| Bergamot (Bee Balm) |
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| Balsam |
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| Hollyhock |
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| *English Ivy * (very invasive) |
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| Mint Species |
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| Sneezeweed (Helenium) |
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| Oregano |
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| Best Native Plants for Bees |
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| Hairy Mountain Mint (Pycanthemum incanum) |
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| Goldenrod |
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| New England Aster |
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| Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum) |
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| Cup Plant (Scrophularia californica) |
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| Monarda Punctata |
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| Phacelia Tanacetifolia (Lacy scorpion weed) |
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| Chamerion angustifoium) (Fireweed) |
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| Chamerion latifolium) (Dwarf Fireweed) |
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| Cleome serrulata (Rocky Mountain Bee Plant) |
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| Dalea Compacta (Compact Prairie Clover) |
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| Dalea candida (White Prairie Clover) |
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| Dalea purpurea (Purple Prairie Clover) |
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| Eutrochium fistulosum (Joe Pye Weed) |
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| Asclepias (Milkweeds) |
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| Agastache (Hyssop) |
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| Tidy Tips |
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| Mimulus (Sticky Monkey Flower) |
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| Echinacea purpurea (Coneflower) |
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| Liatris (Prairie Blazing Star) |
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| Smooth Blue Aster |
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| Eryngium yuccafolium (Rattlesnake Master) |
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Source of bee safe seeds
http://thehoneybeeconservancy.org
http://nativebeeranching.com/sources-of-untreated-seeds/
http://nativebeeranching.com/sources-of-untreated-plants/
http://www.themelissagarden.com
http://www.xerces.org/bringbackthepollinators
Any questions about a particular plant can be found easily by simply typing the name into a Google spacebar. Use the Google Images tab to see what the plant looks like in various stages. Happy Bee Farming!
TREES
Woody plants with ideal bloom times for honeybee forage
Plant | Tree | Shrub | Notes |
Hazelnut Corylus americana | X | Native, pollen source, nuts for food and wildlife | |
Cornelian Cherry Dogwood Cornus mas | X | Small ornamental tree, some fruiting varieties available | |
Serviceberry Amelanchier spp | X | X | Native, tree and bush forms available, delicious fruit |
Chokeberry Aronia melanocarpa | X | Native, good fall color, fruit for food and wildlife. Likes wet sites | |
Cane Fruits Raspberry and Blackberry | X | Native, can naturalize large areas, fruit for food and wildlife | |
Buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis | X | Native, likes wet sites | |
Cotoneasters | X | Many varieties available | |
Basswood and Lindens Tilia spp. | X | Large shade trees, Basswood is a native | |
Korean Evodia Tetradium danielii | X | Small to medium tree, difficult to find but great nectar source | |
Devil’s Walking Stick Aralia spinosa | X | X | Native, usually grows in groups, very unique tree, fruit for wildlife |
Sweetspire Itea virginica | X | Native, several varieties available, ‘Little Henry’ | |
Butterfly Bush Buddleia spp | X | Very fragrant, attractive to insects and hummingbirds, many varieties | |
Russian Sage Perovskia atriplicifolia | X | Long bloom times, very tough plant, can spread | |
Franklin Tree Franklinia alatamaha | X | Rare native, blooms appear with fall color at the same time | |
Witch Hazel Hamamelis virginiana | X | X | Native varieties bloom in the fall, Non-native varieties bloom winter |