Benefit the Bees

I had a friend tell me that she was concerned about our dwindling bee population. and wondered if there were any plants that would be beneficial in attracting bees, and encourage them to increase their population.

As you know, bees help pollinate, and without our plants being pollinated, we would have less flowers, and even less fruit, as pollination is key, to some plants providing fruit to us. 

So What can we plant to help out bee population? 

In my personal experience, my pussy willow bush, when in bloom is TEEMING with so many bees, that it literally buzzes when you walk past it!. But that is all that came to mind when I thought this question. 

So, I had to do some research to be able to offer more suggestions for you. 

Some general gardening advice quoted from gardening.about.com says: 

"Don’t use pesticides. Most pesticides are not selective. You are killing off the beneficial bugs along with the pests. If you must use a pesticide, start with the least toxic one and follow the label instructions to the letter.

Use local native plants. Research suggests native plants are four times more attractive to native bees than exotic flowers. They are also usually well adapted to your growing conditions and can thrive with minimum attention. In gardens, heirloom varieties of herbs and perennials can also provide good foraging.

Chose several colors of flowers. Bees have good color vision to help them find flowers and the nectar and pollen they offer. Flower colors that particularly attract bees are blue, purple, violet, white, and yellow

Plant flowers in clumps. Flowers clustered into clumps of one species will attract more pollinators than individual plants scattered through the habitat patch. Where space allows, make the clumps four feet or more in diameter.

Include flowers of different shapes. There are four thousand different species of bees in North America, and they are all different sizes, have different tongue lengths, and will feed on different shaped flowers. Consequently, providing a range of flower shapes means more bees can benefit.

Have a diversity of plants flowering all season. Most bee species are generalists, feeding on a range of plants through their life cycle. By having several plant species flowering at once, and a sequence of plants flowering through spring, summer, and fall, you can support a range of bee species that fly at different times of the season.

Plant where bees will visit. Bees favor sunny spots over shade and need some shelter from strong winds."

*everything in green is quoted from http://gardening.about.com/od/attractingwildlife/a/Bee_Plants.htm
I found simialr information in quite a few articles and blogs.

gardening.about.com also has a nice list of plants that attract bees that can be found here

Some plants that attract bees are: 

Apple Trees
Aster
Basil
Black-eyed Susan
Currant
Dandelions 
Elder
English LavenderGoldenrod
Green Beans
Honeysuckle
Huckleberry
LavendarLupine
Marjoram
Oregon grape
Purple coneflower (Echinacea)
Radish 
Rhododendron
Rosemary
Sage 
Squash
Sunflowers
Wild buckwheat 
Wild-lilac
Willow 
Zinnia

And much more! 

As I write this list up I realize I have quite a few of these plants in my garden. Including Lilac, willow (my pussy willow) Honeysuckle, and apple trees. This makes me happy...My only fear, it that the bees that visit my pussy willow tree live IN the walls of my house, as we found a dead hive when we remodeled 8 years ago, and another dead hive after a kitchen fire about 3 years ago...These are some of the perils of living in a house that is over 100 years old. Not that they have ever hurt me if the ARE living in my walls, it just freaks me out! 

 I also found a listing of beneficial plants that came from garland nursery:

http://www.garlandnursery.com/Handouts/plants_that_attract_bees.pdf