Planting for Bee Success
Are you thinking of simple and easy ways to help the environment? Why not start by planting your yard for bees? It’s an ideal way to provide food and habitat for these important pollinators, and it’s simpler than you might think! Big Rock Landscaping can help you plan which flowers and plants are best for bees, and provide you with inspirational bee garden ideas as well as a recommendation of plants specifically for bees and butterflies. Here are some additional tips to help you get started.
7 Reasons Bees Are Important
How much time do you have? Bees are important for so many reasons. Keep reading to find out more on why these pollinators are so crucial for virtually every living thing on the earth.
Bees Help Create A Successful Garden
Considered to be nature’s best pollinators, when bees cross-pollinate, they encourage more flowers and plants to grow. This is ultimately a win-win as your garden reaps the benefits and the bees also receive the nutrients that they need.
Bees Pollinate Food Crops
Sadly, if bees disappear, so do our food crops. Bees travel incredible distances to search for pollen. It’s these epic journeys to collect pollen that result in us sitting down to meals filled with delicious produce.
Bees And Raw Materials
Did you think that a bees biggest contribution to our world is that wonderfully sweet, gooey liquid called honey? Incredibly, the plant pollination job that keeps bees so busy results in half of the world’s oils, fibers, and other raw materials that rely on bees to pollinate the plants that are used to produce them.
Bees Pollinate Wild Plants
Humans may not be eating wild plants, unless they are living their best lives on an episode of Survivor, but insects, animals, and birds are. Wild plants provide oxygen and food to other animals, and are an important part of our ecosystem. Bees help to pollinate these key plants.
Bees Produce Honey
Only bees have the incredible talent of producing honey. Bees extract nectar from plants, return to the hive with the nectar and mix it with their saliva in order to create the magical potion of honey. And while this process doesn’t necessarily sound appetizing, honey is a very important food that is known for many health benefits including fighting bacteria, healing wounds, and helping with gastrointestinal issues. Over 157 million pounds of honey are produced each year in the United States alone.
Honey Products
We all know that bees produce incredible amounts of honey, but did you know that bees and their busy spring pollination activities create more products that just honey? Bee pollen is a popular product that is known for being rich in amino acids, proteins, enzymes, and more. Bee wax is another valuable product helpful in candles, furniture polish, and a variety of skin care products. These bees are stimulating the economy!
Employment
While bees are responsible for an awful lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to the creation of honey and its various by-products, they do have some help. Bee farms are known for being a huge source of employment in the United States. There are over 212,000 registered beekeepers in the country and over 1.5 million people who benefit from the bee population when it comes to their employment.
Here’s What To Plant For Bees
Wondering how to get your backyard bee party started? Do you know your yard needs bees, but are wondering which flowers are best for bee pollination? It’s time for a trip to the garden center. Keep reading for a list of plants and flowers that will keep your backyard buzzing.
Goldenrod
Goldenrod plants are a gorgeous shade of yellow. They are known for providing nectar for both butterflies and bees, which in turn creates a more successful garden. It’s also suspected that planting goldenrod near a vegetable garden is a natural deterrent for pests, drawing bugs away from the vegetables.
Wild Bergamot
This gorgeous plant is known for being a spectacular perennial. It’s also been known for attracting bees, butterflies, birds, and hummingbirds. They are typically lavender, pink, or white.
Coneflower
The other name for coneflower is echinacea. They are known for being one of the best flowering perennials in sunny places. These incredible flowers grow in multiple colors including yellow, white, orange, pink, and red. In addition to bees, butterflies also love these gorgeous blooms!
Milkweed
This flowering plant showcases a milky sap when a stem or leaf is broken. It also has soft and velvety feeling fine hairs on the bottom of the leaves. Milkweed has a very distinct smell and the flowers range from pink to white. Alas, while popular with the bee crew, buyer beware. MIlkweed is suspected of being mildly poisonous to both cats and dogs.
Columbine
This incredibly easy-to-grow perennial blooms in a variety of colors during the spring season. These lovelies turn into a maroon-colored plant in the fall. The spring flowers are often bi-colored and come in an incredible array of colors.
Lavender
With an incredibly distinctive smell, this flowering plant was at one time used as a holy herb. In the present day, lavender is often used for anxiety, stress, and depression although at this time, there is no scientific evidence to support these claims. Bees are enraptured with lavender’s gorgeous purple flowers.
Poppies
A crowd favorite for all types of bees, poppies are known for providing an abundance of pollen. Bees are also attracted to their gorgeous and vibrant colors. Once the flower is gone, birds are attracted to the seeds.
Geraniums
Geraniums are gorgeous perennial flowers that return year after year. It’s considered to be a sun loving plant that needs 4-6 hours of sun per day. They are also easy to grow and have a distinct and lovely scent that appeals to both humans and bees!
Rosemary
When you think of rosemary, you may start thinking about the kitchen instead of the garden. Traditionally, the leaves of rosemary are used for flavoring a variety of foods, especially stuffing and roasted meats. Rosemary plants can grow quite large, and the flowers they produce are true pollinator attractors.
Tips For Planting For Bees
Keep reading for your best ways to create a garden that bees will love.
- Bees love a reliable water source. Even a bird bath will encourage more bees to come to your garden.
- Plant a bee friendly yard! You’ve seen the suggestions, and now it’s time to get planting to make it happen!
- Do not use any chemicals in your garden! Many of these chemicals are known for being toxic to bees.
- Appreciate the beauty of the weeds, and let them grow a little. Any flower in a garden has the ability to help create a healthier garden by attracting pollinators.
Need Help Planting Your Garden For Bees? Let Big Rock Get Your Yard Buzzing!
Choosing a bee friendly landscape for your outdoor space can be stressful. What plants are best for attracting bees to your yard? Besides plants and flowers, are there any other ways to attract bees to your yard? Big Rock Landscaping can help you find the answers to these questions. We live to create the perfect outdoor space for your family.
The team at Big Rock Landscaping is committed to providing an unparalleled level of customer service and professionalism as they design and create beautiful and livable spaces in a natural outdoor environment.
Whatever your vision, Big Rock Landscaping offers the best landscaping services. We have the best artistic tools, professional resources, and design expertise as well as installation and maintenance services in both commercial and residential areas along the Wasatch Front. Their professional, artistic eye, and attention to detail can help with every stage of the landscaping process. From the initial design concepts to the demolition and construction, Big Rock Landscaping works tirelessly to develop and maintain your perfect landscape.
Contact Big Rock Landscaping today to bring your outdoor dreams to reality.
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