Bee-loving plants

This spring, while prowling the nursery looking for pretty flowers to add to your garden, why not consider growing simple annuals for the bees?

There are many easy to grow plants available that bees love. They include such oldtime favorites as borage, calendula, cosmos, marigold, sunflower and zinnia.

All of these plants are usually available in six packs, making them especially attractive in terms of price, compared to perennials. These annuals grow quickly and flower all season long, from late spring through autumn.

What makes these annuals especially attractive to bees? They provide the bee with a good supply of nectar and pollen. Nectar is food for the bee while it forages for pollen. Pollen is what the bee collects and carries to the hive to feed the larvae.

Water is just as important to a bee as food. They get thirsty. The easiest way to provide water for bees is to fill a shallow saucer, 12 to 18 inches wide full of pebbles and water. The bee will clamber about the pebbles and sip water in the spaces between.

Honeybees and bumblebees typically come to mind when it comes to considering bees in the garden. However, mason bees and leaf cutter bees are solitary bees that inhabit our gardens as well. In fact, in California alone there are approximately 1,600 species of bees. The University of California Press has published a book called the “Field Guide to the Common Bees of California.” It is a wonderful little book to identify bees in your garden and learn about their needs and behaviors.