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| I am looking to add a tree or two to my yard, and find that at the moment I am most enjoying plants that attract bees. I have two trees already that are just alive with bees when they are in bloom: Heptacodium and Pterostyrax. I do tend to like unusual plants, ideally with relatively attractive foliage or form as well.
Any suggestions for other trees that bees would enjoy? I'm considering Koelreuteria and Oxydendrum; don't know if bees like them, or if there are other good options. I am NOT a fan of the flowering cherries and plums as they are all over the city and have undistinguished foliage plus I have one as a street tree. I also already have a Syriacus 'Red Heart' that the bees enjoy. Thank you for any advice... Karin L |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| My American persimmon trees attract so many bees when in bloom that I can hear the buzzing sound from about 30-50 feet away. They attract not only honey bees, but many bumblebees, wasps, solitary bees. Probably Asian persimmon would be the same. They are frankly, more attractive in the landscape, with better fall color and larger fruit. |
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- Posted by jimbobfeeny 5a IN (My Page) on Wed, Jun 20, 12 at 21:31
| The basswood in my backyard is humming with bees right now - Those blossoms smell great! |
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| Well they're not exactly exotic, but American Lindens are known for their appeal to bees, and the quality of honey they produce. I have a couple of Tilia americana and they are beautiful trees, have an incredible fragrance, and they attract tons of pollinators day and night. They don't seem to bloom heavily every year though, because last year 1 bloomed heavily and the other didn't, and this year it's the reverse. I don't know about other species of Tilia, but read on one site that Silver Linden (T. tomentosa) is toxic to bees. |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Wed, Jun 20, 12 at 22:13
| +3 on the American linden or basswood. Not at all in the same category of ornamental, "flowering" trees as you have mentioned, but in fact, an extremely important nectar source for bees in areas where common, like around here. +oM |
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| Sourwood Black Gum I think they even sell sourwood and tupelo (black gum) honey down here. |
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- Posted by Dzitmoidonc 6 (My Page) on Thu, Jun 21, 12 at 0:34
| American Holly. They smell so wonderful when in bloom, and lots of pollinators appear. All the Amelanchiers also draw pollinators, but the is no scent. The berries are good to eat and also feed the birds. |
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| Wow, what a wealth of suggestions. As it happens I just bought a persimmon. The cultivar is Fuyu, and I am actually having second thoughts as I now read that it may sucker, but we shall see. I bought it not because I like persimmons - never tasted them in fact - but because it was the only fruit tree in the nursery with attractive foliage. So, bees will be a bonus. I'm heading to a local plant sale this weekend where there is a good selection of trees, including a Nyssa and a Tilia cordata 'Greenspire'; I hope that would have the same draw as the American basswood. It would be a more realistic fit for my space, truth be told. They're trees I don't know so I didn't even know whether to categorize them as flowering (and I would never have thought of holly as such). I did shy away a bit from the size of the Nyssa, but ONE tree in my yard could grow that big... I bought a tiny Evodia once, but it didn't make it... I think I tried to grow it in a container because I heard they sucker too. I am a flowering quince veteran, and suckers are the stuff my nightmares are made of. But I will try again if I come across it. Thank you so much for these eye-opening suggestions. Karin L |
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- Posted by home_grower SoCal Z9 S18 (My Page) on Thu, Jun 21, 12 at 3:37
| I have a suggestion you can look at. It might not be common in your area. A Golden Honey Locust, the non thorn variety. I bought one last year after loving the yellow/green tint the very small leaves had. When I got it home it was swarmed by bees. It has 2 inch long seed pods that are brown and don't look all that attractive to me but the bees seem to love it. When I picked it up and carried it from my back yard to the front yard where I was going to plant it they followed me all the way. Luckily none of them stung me, I guess they just wanted what was in the pods. The tree is doing well but the pods have yet to grow this year. It shouldn't be too long now. |
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| Yes, they love hollies of any kind, but Ilex opaca is perhaps the only one considered a tree (the others are shrubs). |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Thu, Jun 21, 12 at 8:20
| its not a tree.. but an autumn clematis.. one of the few things blooming in late august is an incredible bee magnate ... especially.. since not much else is blooming at that time .. and fragrant to boot ... when you get within about 10 feet of it.. you will think an F16 is approaching ... as to trees themselves.. what they said.. |
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- Posted by formandfoliage 9b (Sunset zone 15) (My Page) on Thu, Jun 21, 12 at 9:55
| Best bet to find out what trees are favored by bees in your area is to check in with a local beekeeping organization. Ours here maintains lists by month/season of what the bees are feeding on. You may also find that you want to try to plant something that augments the local food supply at a time when nectar is scarce (for us that is summer but where you are probably a different time of year). Good luck! Bees are great. I have eight hives (a local beekeeper helps me - goodness knows I could not do that by myself) and we have a really fun time noticing what the bees seem to favor. It's generally not the most obvious flowers - the smaller, less showy flowers (ones that most people would not even notice) that seem to have the most desirable nectar. (My Nyssa don't seem to attract bees, that may be because there are other things around that they like better, though). |
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| Hi, Karin, This is my third attempt to post here now, so this attempt will be shorter. Vitex agnus castus. Bees and butterflies love it. Beautiful flowering shrub that most people limb up into tree form. 15-20 feet. Easy to grow. Drought-tolerant once established. Looks good when not blooming, too. Blooms all summer. Absolutely love my two that I bought as one gallon plants 3-4 years ago-now 8-9 ft. tall. Tried to post a pic from another site, but wasn't allowed. |
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| Cyn - come to think of it I have a Vitex! I hadn't started thinking about it yet since it blooms later and wasn't too productive last year. In fact that reminds me of another bee magnet - I used to have the Vitex and a Ceanothus planted under my living room window. It was a summer-long bee buffet. They both outgrew the spot and I think I gave the Ceanothus away but the Vitex is now being trained into a tree and is always welcomed by the bees, and is gorgeous. Also, pruning it is one of my favourite garden tasks for the aroma. Thank you for persisting against the technology gremlins :-) By the way, a local woodturner enjoys trying new woods and I gave him a couple of thick pieces of the Vitex when I took out its multiple stems. It is quite interesting wood to look at but unlike juniper, does not retain its aroma over the long run. Ken - it is all about those gaps, so thanks for the addition. The Heptacodium also blooms later. This question actually came on because of a gap. I had to cut back some Stachys in full bloom this week for my husband to do some maintenance work, and it broke my heart because the bees were just getting going on it. But I thought, oh well, they can always go to the.... and then couldn't see much else available (at least in my back yard). The Actea for instance are not quite in bloom yet. As my next thought was about which tree to put "here" it seemed a good idea to remedy that. (Fortunately a salvia has since opened up shop.) HG, I do like the Golden Honey Locust as well and have seen them for sale, so will investigate its suitability. F&F, I have a feeling that if I get in touch with the beekeepers, hives in my yard will be next... the thin edge theory - but good idea. Thank you all again, Karin L |
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| Oooh, hives would be great! Also, how nice to have a local artisan to whom you can pass your discards. Did he make anything fun? Wish we were neighbors! Mine tend to hate anything that flies and is not a bird (and they sometimes dislike those, too), so they spray. Weeds? They spray. No wonder there are fewer bees and fireflies these days, not to mention praying mantises, ladybugs, and everything else! |
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| American Fringe Tree Chionanthus virginicus Kentucky Coffeetree Gymnocladus dioica Blackgum Nyssa sylvatica (ours is very popular with pollinators) Black Locust Robinia pseudoacacia American Yellowwood Cladrastis kentukea American Smoke Tree Cotinus obovatus Native Sumacs Rhus sp. Of course various Redbud Cercis sp. and Crabapples Malus sp. Arktrees |
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| Aralia spinosa and elata are popular with the bees. |
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- Posted by oceandweller 8B (My Page) on Thu, Jun 21, 12 at 16:10
| I agree on the black gum and basswood. Its funny you mention the vitex, bees go nuts here as well. You know I think bees need more in the fall and summer than spring but am not entirely sure. I do know they have to live off winter honey stores. Are you just trying to increase bees for other polinators such as flowers, vegtable garden, etc? My sunflowers are attracting all kinds of bees and wasps right now. |
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| Cyn, yes, he made this needle case, one of his specialties. The wood is a bit greenish and has quite nice grain.
As I was taking this picture I thought you folks might also be interested in the background surface I was using. It's an elephant carved out of a single piece of trunk. We were told it was teak but you can't really see the wood as it is heavily varnished. There is actually a pair of them that we bought together some 30 years ago.
Not that I'm off topic here or anything. I wonder if it would be possible to compile a list of the best trees for bees in the order they bloom, so that a person wishing to do so could create a continuous bee attraction? I'm going to try to take note of the exact sequence this year, but from memory it is approximately Pterostyrax/Chionanthus Of the other trees mentioned, I also have Cladastrus lutea but it hasn't yet bloomed so I don't know where it would go. I also have an apple tree, but come to think of it I don't think I see a lot of bees around that early. Oceandweller, my interest is not all that academic and I don't have vegetables at all, it's mostly that bees seem to contribute a happy vibe to the garden to the extent that plants that don't attract them seem kind of sterile to me. I guess people like Cyn's neighbour strive for exactly that! I certainly don't slavishly serve the wildlife aesthetic either, but I appreciate its value. And I have a sense that slowly, a sense of balance is overtaking even the spraying neighbours. Karin L |
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| OT here: Love those elephants! And the plaster walls! Looks like my kind of home. Thanks for sharing the needle case. Quite cool piece of work. |
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| I'd recommend you take a long look @ Maackia amurensis. That will bloom in July. |
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| Firmiana simplex (Chinese Parasol) trees are HUGE bee attractors, although they may also be a little weedy or invasive in some areas too. I've never seen more bees covering a tree than in the case of this tree. |
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| I wonder if Halesia would thrive in your location? Ours becomes alive with bees when flowering. It seems as if there will be a bee in every pretty flower...with a waiting list hovering nearby. |
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| Maackia and Firmiana are neat options but there was nothing that exotic at the nursery today, possibly a good thing for my pocketbook. Their Styraxes, both white and pink, were in full bloom with a couple of bees present as if to market them, but their foliage, like that of Halesia, doesn't really speak to me, so I resisted. I have a Styrax obassia in any case, but too small to bloom just yet, so I hope that will prove as attractive to bees in flower as it is to me in leaf. I came home from the sale with just one tree, a Tilia cordata 'Corinthian." In the end the Nyssa foliage didn't do it for me either - and somehow I have always wanted to grow a Tilia - must have read something about Lindens at some point. This cultivar seems to be a realistic choice for the size of my yard. I still have to leave room for the Oxydendrum, which I am determined to get one day! I hope others find this thread as useful as I have, for the sake of bees everywhere! Karin L |
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| jqpublic: "I think they even sell sourwood and tupelo (black gum) honey down here." If you have not tried sourwood honey you are missing a lot. If you have not tried it, in a few weeks go to the NC State Farmer's Market, If you are lucky they will not only have sourwood, but several other flavors, honeysuckle, sage, clover, blueberry, to name a few. If you don't like the various honeys, you should go to the NC State Farmer's Market anyway, they have all kinds of fruits and vegetables, plus have a large selection of all kinds of plants and trees. (We have bought many there for our home east of Raleigh) If you don't like any of the above you should go anyway as it is fun. |
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| My Magnolia grandiflora blooms always seem the draw large numbers of bees. Not sure how they perform in the Pacific NW, though the cultivar 'Victoria' did originate in your neck of the woods, and is gorgeous. Little Gem has. A much longer bloom period than most other cultivars if it is locally hardy. Also, I imagine deciduous Magnolias including Tulip trees would also attack bees. Good luck! |
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| For very early in the year pussy willows are helpful to bees. |
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| I've been wondering about Magnolias, actually - I don't know the cultivars that well but they are much grown around here. Flora, that's news to me, thank you. Karin L |
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| Yes - I didn't know it either karinl - but I had a beekeeper put some hives in my wood and he said pussywillows and hazel catkins are great for the bees when they first start working in the spring. |
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