BE PART OF PLAN BEE

NZ Gardener, in association with Gardena, is once again giving every reader a packet of bee-friendly wildflower seeds to celebrate Bee Awareness month this September. This is a blend of specially selected flowering plants that provide the nectar and pollen bees and other beneficial pollinators need.

• Nutritional stress is one of the major challenges facing bees, as the foraging habitats they rely on become increasingly scarce due to modern agricultural practices. Bees have to travel further to find food, which leaves them exhausted and even more vulnerable to disease. Sowing your Plan Bee seeds will provide real help to bees and other good bugs.

• You can sow your bee-friendly wildflower seed from spring until autumn (or all year round in the warmest parts of the country). Clear the weeds where you plan to grow your wildflowers and scatter the seed, raking it in lightly. Keep moist during germination period.

• You can grow your Plan Bee seed anywhere in your garden, in a border, an empty bed, or even in pots. But to create maximum buzz, plant in swathes or drifts that are at least 1 metre across. Foraging bees are more likely to be attracted to a mass of flowers growing together rather than a single bloom here and there.

• Once you have sown your Plan Bee seeds, be sure to register your address on our Plan Bee map. A little bee icon will pop up where you are, so you’ll see New Zealand getting more bee-friendly… one garden at a time! Scan the QR code on the seed packet to go straight to the registration form, or visit nzgardener.co.nz.

• As always, we’d love to know how your garden grows. Send us updates and photos as your wildflowers grow and do let us know if you notice more bees around as a result. You can email us at mailbox@ nzgardener.co.nz, share your stories on NZ Gardener’s facebook page, or write to Plan Bee, NZ Gardener, PO Box 6341, Wellesley Street, Auckland 1141.