Large gardens
Room for trees and shrubs, which is where the real forage volume is.
245 records · garden context
- LavenderLavandula angustifoliaAn unusually good nectar plant relative to its pollen offering. Bees visiting lavender are mostly there for nectar, which is why it supports adult foragers well and contributes less to brood rearing.
- RosemarySalvia rosmarinusThe timing is what makes it exceptional rather than the volume. A high-value plant in March is worth far more to bees than a better plant in July, when everything is flowering.
- ThymeThymusA low aromatic Mediterranean subshrub that produces one of the world's great honeys and, at garden scale, one of the best-value bee plants per square metre of anything you can grow. Thyme flowers densely, tolerates the poorest soil, and can be walked on — creeping thymes planted in gravel or between paving turn dead space into forage.
- White cloverTrifolium repensOne of the very few plants that is both a top-tier nectar source and a substantial pollen source, over a long season, at landscape scale.
- SunflowerHelianthus annuusAn outstanding late-summer pollen source at a point in the season when pollen is becoming scarce, which matters for colonies raising the bees that will overwinter.
- AppleMalus domesticaValuable spring forage, but rarely a surplus crop: the window is short and the colony is still building at that point in the year, so most of what comes in is eaten immediately.
- CherryPrunus aviumImportant early forage arriving when colonies are expanding and bumblebee queens are founding nests. Almost all of it is consumed rather than stored.
- HawthornCrataegus monogynaThe backbone of the temperate hedgerow and one of the great mass-flowering events of the European year. A hawthorn hedge in full bloom in May carries an extraordinary density of insects — bees, hoverflies, beetles and flies together — and the plant supports several hundred invertebrate species beyond the ones visiting the flowers. Its nectar flow is heavy, brief and famously unreliable from year to year.
- BrambleRubus fruticosusThe combination of a very long season, high nectar value and reliability in variable weather makes bramble the workhorse of northern European summer forage.
- IvyHedera helixOne of the very few plants that is top-rated for both nectar and pollen, and it delivers them when the year's other options have finished. For overwintering insects this is decisive.
- HeatherCalluna vulgarisThe plant that turns British and northern European moorland purple in August, and the source of one of the world's most unusual honeys. Heather flowers at the very end of the northern summer, on acid ground that supports almost nothing else, and its nectar produces a thixotropic honey that behaves like no other. Whole beekeeping traditions in Scotland, northern England and the German heaths exist to catch this one flow.
- FoxgloveDigitalis purpureaHigh value to a narrow group. This is exactly the plant a 'bee friendly' score would misrepresent: excellent for long-tongued bumblebees, largely irrelevant to honey bees.
- MahoniaMahonia × mediaRated high rather than very high on volume, and it is arguably the most valuable plant in this catalogue anyway. A high-value plant in July competes with everything; a moderate one in January competes with nothing.
- Wildflower meadowMixed native floraThe highest combined forage value of anything in this catalogue, because of diversity and duration rather than any single plant's output.
- MānukaLeptospermum scopariumA good nectar source during its brief flowering and of limited use outside it. A landscape of nothing but mānuka is a feast followed by a famine.
- Sweet chestnutCastanea sativaAn exceptional pollen source — the catkins shed enormous quantities — and a good nectar source in the right weather. The pollen arrives at a useful moment for colonies building towards late summer.
- LimeTilia cordataExtraordinary nectar productivity concentrated into a very short window. Its urban prevalence makes it disproportionately important to city beekeeping.
- EucalyptusEucalyptusProlific in both nectar and pollen when flowering, though the pollen of some species is nutritionally poor for honey bees, and colonies confined to a single eucalypt species can suffer over time despite abundant forage.
- Strawberry treeArbutus unedoValuable out of all proportion to its abundance, because of when it flowers. Late nectar lets colonies enter winter with fresh stores in a landscape that has otherwise shut down.
- SourwoodOxydendrum arboreumA serious nectar source with very little pollen to offer, which is a useful illustration of why the two are rated separately: sourwood feeds foragers superbly and contributes almost nothing to brood rearing.
- BuckwheatFagopyrum esculentumGenuinely useful as a late-summer gap filler, and its speed from sowing to flower makes it one of the few forage plants that can be deployed tactically within a single season.
- BorageBorago officinalisOne of the few plants that genuinely deserves the top rating for nectar, and it earns it through replenishment rate rather than through abundance of flowers.
- BlueberryVaccinium corymbosumUseful early forage, and a textbook illustration that abundant flowers do not guarantee an efficient pollination relationship.
- PhaceliaPhacelia tanacetifoliaOne of very few plants rated top for both nectar and pollen, delivered late in the season when both are scarce. That combination is why it appears in nearly every agri-environment seed mix in Europe.
- DandelionTaraxacum officinaleThe pollen is what makes it critical. It arrives when colonies are expanding fastest and have the least in reserve, and bumblebee queens emerging from hibernation depend on early sources like this one to found a nest at all.
- Rosebay willowherbChamaenerion angustifoliumA major nectar source at a point in the year when many landscapes have gone quiet, and the mainstay of high-summer beekeeping across boreal North America and Scandinavia.
- Goat willowSalix capreaThe single most important early-season pollen source across much of Europe. Its value is not in yielding honey but in what it makes possible six weeks later.
- SnowdropGalanthus nivalisRated low for nectar and it matters anyway, which is the clearest case on the site for why timing belongs alongside quantity. A moderate pollen source in February is worth more to a colony than a high one in July.
- Winter honeysuckleLonicera fragrantissimaModerate ratings that punch far above their weight because of when they arrive. Nothing else that is easy to grow flowers so reliably in December and January.
- Viper's buglossEchium vulgareAmong the most productive nectar plants in the European flora per flower, and a good pollen source alongside it. In New Zealand, naturalised echium is a significant commercial honey source under the name blue borage.
- Michaelmas daisySymphyotrichum novi-belgiiRated high for both, and delivered in September and October when the ratings matter most. In a garden, asters and ivy together carry the entire autumn.
- SageSalviaVery high nectar and only moderate pollen — sage feeds adult foragers superbly and contributes comparatively little to brood rearing, which is a common pattern in the mint family.
- MintMenthaGood nectar at a genuinely useful point in the season. Its value is timing and reliability rather than volume.
- MarjoramOriganum vulgareRepeatedly ranks at or near the top of controlled garden trials for total insect visits, and unusually it scores well for both bees and butterflies — few plants do both.
- CatmintNepetaVery high nectar over an exceptionally long season. Its ratings are strong and its real distinction is duration.
- ComfreySymphytum officinaleExceptional nectar, but genuinely restricted by flower shape — which is why the separate rating for accessibility matters more here than almost anywhere else.
- BuddleiaBuddleja davidiiThe separate ratings do real work here. Buddleia offers substantial nectar and very little accessible pollen, so it feeds adult insects and contributes almost nothing to raising the next generation of bees. A garden of nothing but buddleia would starve its own pollinators.
- VerbenaVerbena bonariensisGood ratings sustained over an exceptionally long season, and delivered late — verbena is often the last substantial nectar in a garden before ivy.
- CosmosCosmos bipinnatusGood ratings for both, delivered over months, from a plant that costs almost nothing. Its efficiency per pound spent is hard to beat.
- CalendulaCalendula officinalisModerate nectar and good pollen, delivered across an exceptionally long season including the shoulders of the year when little else is open. Its value is timing rather than volume.
- HoneysuckleLonicera periclymenumHigh nectar, and largely unavailable to bees. The ratings and the accessibility note have to be read together here or the plant looks far better than it is for the insects most people are planting for.
- CrocusCrocusVery high pollen at a point in the year when pollen is the binding constraint on a colony starting to raise brood. Bees return from crocus carrying enormous bright orange loads, which is one of the most cheerful sights in a February apiary.
- RaspberryRubus idaeusOne of the highest-yielding nectar plants in temperate horticulture, and good for pollen too. Very few plants combine this productivity with this reliability.
- GoldenrodSolidagoTop-rated for both nectar and pollen, delivered at the moment they matter most. For North American beekeeping this is the most important single genus in the second half of the year.
- Red cloverTrifolium pratenseTop-rated nectar that most of the bees people plant for cannot reach. This record exists largely to make that distinction concrete.
- Bird's-foot trefoilLotus corniculatusGood for both, over a long season, from a plant that thrives on the poor unimproved ground most other forage will not tolerate.
- KnapweedCentaurea nigraOne of the very best wild nectar plants in northern Europe, and unusually it delivers over months rather than weeks.
- Field scabiousKnautia arvensisAmong the best late-summer nectar plants in the northern European flora, and one of the few that supports an obligate specialist bee.
- TeaselDipsacus fullonumGood nectar at a useful moment, and its wider value is habitat rather than forage — the standing dead stems are among the best hollow-stem nesting sites a garden can offer.
- YarrowAchillea millefoliumModerate nectar and good pollen, and its real distinction is who can reach it — yarrow serves the very small and short-tongued insects that deep-flowered garden plants shut out entirely.
- CornflowerCentaurea cyanusGood nectar over a long season from a cheap annual, and one of very few garden plants where a reader can actually see extrafloral nectaries at work.
- Common poppyPapaver rhoeasThe clearest case on the site for rating nectar and pollen separately. A single 'bee friendly' score would either overstate the poppy or understate it, and both would be wrong.
- BlackthornPrunus spinosaGood for both at a moment when almost nothing else of tree scale is open. Its value is the date rather than the quantity.
- Crab appleMalus sylvestrisExcellent spring pollen and good nectar. Its particular value is the length of the flowering window relative to a cultivated apple.
- RowanSorbus aucupariaGood pollen and moderate nectar, delivered in a completely accessible form. Its wider wildlife value — berries for thrushes and winter migrants — is at least as significant.
- CotoneasterCotoneasterVery high nectar from a plant that grows anywhere, in any soil, in sun or shade, with no attention at all. Per unit of gardening effort it is close to unbeatable.
- PyracanthaPyracantha coccineaGood for both, from an evergreen structural shrub that also provides thorny nesting cover — a genuinely multi-purpose garden plant.
- Horse chestnutAesculus hippocastanumTop-rated for both, in enormous quantity, from a single tree. One mature horse chestnut is worth a considerable area of border planting.
- SycamoreAcer pseudoplatanusVery high nectar and good pollen, delivered at tree scale in mid-spring, plus a honeydew contribution later. A single mature sycamore is a serious forage asset.
- HelleboreHelleborusModerate nectar and good pollen at the point in the year when both are hardest to find. Rated by timing rather than by quantity.
- Winter aconiteEranthis hyemalisGood pollen and useful nectar in the first weeks of the year. Nothing about the quantity is impressive and the date is what counts.
- SedumHylotelephium spectabileGood nectar delivered at exactly the point when late bumblebee queens are fattening for hibernation and honey bees are topping up winter stores.
- Hardy geraniumGeraniumGood for both across a long season, from plants that grow in sun or shade and require essentially no maintenance.
- EchinaceaEchinacea purpureaGood for both, over a long late-summer season, from a plant that copes with heat and drought when many border perennials stop producing.
- AlliumAlliumGood for both from an entirely accessible flower shape, and available from a plant most vegetable gardens already contain.
- AsphodelAsphodelus ramosusA major early nectar source in country that offers little else at that season, and rated highly for pollen as well.
- RockroseCistus ladaniferAn outstanding pollen source and a good nectar one, and a plant that also supplies resin for propolis — an unusual triple contribution.
- BilberryVaccinium myrtillusGood nectar at a critical early moment for northern colonies and for emerging bumblebee queens, whose founding success tracks bilberry abundance closely in Fennoscandia.
- CarobCeratonia siliquaStructurally important rather than abundant — a good nectar source at a time of year when a Mediterranean colony has almost no alternatives.
- AlmondPrunus dulcisTop-rated for both, at the single most valuable moment of the year for a colony coming out of winter. That is precisely why the pollination market exists.
- LemonCitrus limonExcellent nectar over an unusually long and repeated window, and only a moderate pollen contribution.
- Sweet cloverMelilotus officinalisVery high nectar over a long dry-season window, and shallow enough florets that honey bees can work it properly — which alfalfa, growing in the same fields, will not allow.
- VitexVitex negundoVery high nectar in a short window, from a plant that covers whole mountainsides.
- JujubeZiziphus jujubaA very high nectar source in arid and semi-arid country where the alternatives are few, which makes it structurally important as well as productive.
- QuillayQuillaja saponariaA good summer nectar source in dry country, and one of relatively few substantial ones in central Chile.
- BanksiaBanksiaTop nectar production in the catalogue for sheer volume per flower head, delivered in the Australian cool season when little else is open.
- ThistleGalactites tomentosaAmong the most productive nectar plants in Mediterranean grassland, and one of the few that supports butterflies and bees equally well.
- LungwortPulmonaria officinalisGood nectar at the point in the year when bumblebee queens are founding nests and the earliest solitary bees are emerging.
- PrimrosePrimula vulgarisModerate on both counts, and it matters because of when it arrives rather than how much it offers.
- BluebellHyacinthoides non-scriptaGood for both, delivered at scale in the spring window, and an underrated contributor to April honey.
- Flowering currantRibes sanguineumGood nectar at the most precarious moment of the bumblebee year, from a shrub that requires no attention whatsoever.
- HazelCorylus avellanaThe clearest illustration in the catalogue of why nectar and pollen are rated separately: hazel scores zero for one and top marks for the other, and it matters enormously.
- Dead-nettleLamiumGood nectar over an exceptionally long season, including the winter months when almost nothing else is available to a foraging bumblebee.
- Forget-me-notMyosotis sylvaticaModerate on both counts, and valuable because the flowers are small and shallow enough for the smallest solitary bees that larger plants exclude.
- CowslipPrimula verisModerate ratings from a plant whose real value is as an indicator — cowslips mark grassland that has not been fertilised or reseeded, and such grassland supports a great deal else.
- Grape hyacinthMuscari armeniacumGood nectar in the spring gap, from a plant that costs almost nothing and requires no maintenance.
- HollyIlex aquifoliumGood nectar in the late spring, and an evergreen structure that provides shelter and nesting cover the rest of the year.
- ElderSambucus nigraA good pollen source with almost nothing to offer in nectar, and the clearest hedgerow example of why the two are rated separately.
- Field mapleAcer campestreVery high nectar from a tree most people do not realise is flowering, plus a honeydew contribution later in the season.
- GorseUlex europaeusZero nectar and top-rated pollen, available in midwinter. Alongside hazel and poppy it is the clearest argument for rating the two separately.
- Christmas boxSarcococca confusaModerate ratings that count for a great deal because they arrive in January, in dry shade, where the alternatives are nothing.
- Winter viburnumViburnum × bodnantenseModerate nectar and little pollen, delivered across the longest winter flowering window of any common garden shrub.
- Guelder roseViburnum opulusGood accessible nectar in early summer, and a useful lesson in reading a flower — most of what you can see is advertising rather than reward.
- Lamb's earStachys byzantinaGood nectar, and uniquely valuable as nest material for wool carder bees, which cannot nest without a woolly-leaved plant within reach.
- BetonyBetonica officinalisVery high nectar over a long window, and one of the better plants for long-tongued bumblebees, which are the group in most trouble.
- AgastacheAgastache foeniculumVery high on both counts across an exceptionally long late-season window, from a plant that needs no attention at all.
- BergamotMonarda didymaGood nectar, and genuinely restricted by flower shape — the ratings and the accessibility note need reading together here.
- HyssopHyssopus officinalisVery high nectar per square metre from a small drought-proof plant, delivered across the late-summer gap.
- Globe thistleEchinops ritroVery high for both, over a long late-summer window, from a plant that requires no watering and no staking.
- Sea hollyEryngiumVery high for both, in an entirely accessible form, at a point when many borders have gone over.
- MeadowsweetFilipendula ulmariaGood pollen and negligible nectar — one of the clearer garden examples of why the two need separate ratings.
- Purple loosestrifeLythrum salicariaAmong the top nectar producers in the European flora, delivered over a long late-summer window on ground that offers little else.
- Oxeye daisyLeucanthemum vulgareModerate nectar and good pollen, and its distinction is who can reach it — the very small and short-tongued insects that need shallow open flowers.
- Wild carrotDaucus carotaModerate nectar and good pollen, in the most accessible form available — its value is the breadth of the visitor list rather than the volume.
- FennelFoeniculum vulgareGood for both in a completely accessible form, over a long late-summer window, from a plant that needs nothing.
- Tufted vetchVicia craccaVery high for both, and specifically valuable to the long-tongued bumblebees that have declined most sharply.
- ChicoryCichorium intybusGood for both during its morning window, and it flowers late in the season when many alternatives have finished.
- RudbeckiaRudbeckia fulgidaGood for both, over a long autumn window, from a plant that requires essentially nothing.
- HeleniumHelenium autumnaleGood for both over a long late-season window, from a flower shape that excludes nothing.
- Japanese anemoneAnemone × hybridaGood pollen and moderate nectar in autumn, from a plant that will grow in part shade where most late forage will not.
- DahliaDahliaGood for both in single-flowered forms across a very long late window, and close to zero in the doubles. The ratings here describe the single forms only.
- BroomCytisus scopariusZero nectar and very high pollen — one of the small group of plants including poppy, hazel and gorse that make the case for separate ratings unanswerable.
- Witch hazelHamamelis × intermediaModerate on both counts and valuable entirely because of when it arrives. In its native range it is pollinated partly by winter-active moths.
- Alder buckthornFrangula alnusVery high nectar over a long window from an inconspicuous plant, and it is disproportionately important where damp woodland edge survives.
- WallflowerErysimumGood nectar across an exceptionally long season, from a small drought-proof plant. Very few things offer eight months of forage from one position.
- HebeHebeGood for both across a long late window, from an evergreen shrub that also provides structure and shelter.
- Black locustRobinia pseudoacaciaAn exceptional nectar source for a very short period. Pollen is useful but secondary — this is a nectar tree above all.
- SainfoinOnobrychis viciifoliaAn outstanding forage plant on both counts, and one of the few that performs in a dry summer when white clover has stopped.
- Tulip treeLiriodendron tulipiferaA heavy nectar source and a moderate pollen source, concentrated in a narrow late-spring window.
- MesquiteProsopisA principal desert forage plant, providing both nectar and pollen in landscapes with very few alternatives.
- Black sageSalvia melliferaAn outstanding nectar source in a good year, and the backbone of the chaparral forage sequence.
- AvocadoPersea americanaA heavy nectar and pollen source, and one the bees are notably unenthusiastic about relative to what else is on offer.
- MacadamiaMacadamia integrifoliaA good nectar and pollen source over a defined spring window.
- KanukaKunzea ericoidesAn excellent nectar and pollen source across the New Zealand summer.
- RewarewaKnightia excelsaA heavy nectar source in native forest, and an important one for the New Zealand forest bird community as well as for bees.
- PohutukawaMetrosideros excelsaA heavy summer nectar and pollen source on coasts with few alternatives.
- JarrahEucalyptus marginataA major nectar and pollen source in years when it flowers heavily.
- LeatherwoodEucryphia lucidaThe principal summer nectar source of the Tasmanian rainforest, and the basis of most of the island's honey production.
- Silver firAbies albaNo floral nectar and negligible pollen. Its entire forage value is honeydew, which is why nectar and pollen are rated separately in this catalogue — a single bee-friendliness score would make this tree look worthless.
- Norway sprucePicea abiesNo floral nectar. Honeydew is the whole of its value, and it can be very substantial.
- Scots pinePinus sylvestrisNo floral nectar, moderate wind-borne pollen that bees will collect, and honeydew in very large quantities where the scale insect is established.
- English oakQuercus roburNo floral nectar and little useful pollen — the catkins are wind-pollinated and their pollen is collected only incidentally. The honeydew is the entire beekeeping interest, and stating that plainly is more useful than calling the tree bee-friendly.
- Saw palmettoSerenoa repensA heavy spring nectar and pollen source across a very large area.
- Cabbage palmSabal palmettoA good summer nectar and pollen source, and a useful bridge across the southeastern dearth.
- Yellow rattleRhinanthus minorA moderate direct forage plant and an outsized indirect one, because it is what allows a grass sward to become a flower meadow.
- Small scabiousScabiosa columbariaExcellent on both counts, and valuable specifically for how late it continues.
- Devil's-bit scabiousSuccisa pratensisAn outstanding late-season nectar and pollen source, at a point in the year when replacements are few.
- Sea asterTripolium pannonicumA generous late nectar and pollen source in a habitat with almost no other flowering plants.
- HogweedHeracleum sphondyliumGenerous and highly accessible on both counts, and unusually long-running.
- Lemon balmMelissa officinalisA good nectar source over a long season, provided it is allowed to flower — which is the catch, since it is usually harvested as a leaf herb before it does.
- Bee bee treeTetradium danielliiOutstanding on both counts, and precisely timed to the late-summer forage gap.
- Japanese pagoda treeStyphnolobium japonicumA good late nectar source and moderate pollen, at a genuinely useful point in the season.
- Field beanVicia fabaGood on both counts, and unusual in offering nectar from two different structures.
- Squash and pumpkinCucurbita pepoA generous nectar and pollen source in the early morning, and unavailable for the rest of the day.
- PearPyrus communisPoor for nectar and good for pollen, which is exactly the sort of split a single bee-friendliness rating would erase.
- PlumPrunus domesticaA useful early nectar source and a generous pollen source when colonies most need pollen for brood rearing.
- Bell heatherErica cinereaA good nectar source and moderate for pollen, over a long summer season on ground with few alternatives.
- Black mangroveAvicennia germinansA good summer nectar source in a coastal landscape with few alternatives.
- LogwoodHaematoxylum campechianumAn excellent dry-season nectar source across the Caribbean.
- SnowberrySymphoricarpos albusA good nectar source with an exceptionally long season, which is its principal virtue.
- American persimmonDiospyros virginianaA good nectar source where the trees are numerous.
- Prickly boxBursaria spinosaAn excellent summer nectar and pollen source, and among the most heavily visited plants in southeastern Australia.
- Southern beechFuscosporaNo floral nectar and negligible pollen. The honeydew is the whole of its value, and it is enormous — which is exactly why nectar and pollen are rated separately in this catalogue.
- BottlebrushMelaleuca citrinaAn excellent nectar and pollen source with pollen presented openly on exposed stamens.
- GojiLycium barbarumA useful nectar source over an unusually long season.
- LoquatEriobotrya japonicaAn outstanding winter nectar and pollen source in subtropical climates, and correspondingly valuable.
- TeaCamellia sinensisA good late nectar and pollen source, arriving when the season is otherwise closing.
- KaranjPongamia pinnataA good nectar and pollen source at the thinnest point of the Indian year.
- ChiuriDiploknema butyraceaA valuable winter nectar source in the Himalayan mid-hills, where alternatives are scarce.
- SesameSesamum indicumA good nectar and pollen source, and unusual in offering nectar from two different kinds of gland.
- SheaVitellaria paradoxaA good dry-season nectar and pollen source across the West African savannah.
- BaobabAdansonia digitataA good nectar and pollen source for the brief period the flowers are open.
- ArganArgania spinosaA good spring nectar source in a semi-arid landscape with few alternatives.
- MopaneColophospermum mopaneModest floral nectar and a substantial honeydew resource, which is the reason the woodland supports beekeeping at all.
- Bitter aloeAloe feroxAn excellent winter nectar and pollen source in a landscape with few alternatives at that season.
- TamariskTamarixA useful summer nectar source on saline and desert ground where little else flowers, plus a honeydew component.
- CashewAnacardium occidentaleA good dry-season nectar and pollen source across the tropics.
- MahuaMadhuca longifoliaAn excellent spring nectar source at the hottest and driest point of the central Indian year.
- NeemAzadirachta indicaA good dry-season nectar source across the Indian subcontinent.
- MangoMangifera indicaA good dry-season nectar and pollen source across the tropics.
- OsierSalix viminalisA modest nectar source and an outstanding pollen source at the point in the year when pollen matters most — colonies need it for brood, not for stores.
- Bird cherryPrunus padusA generous spring nectar and pollen source, and worked heavily for the fortnight it lasts.
- BlackcurrantRibes nigrumA good early nectar source at a point when little else is available.
- GooseberryRibes uva-crispaA good early nectar source, and valuable disproportionately for its timing.
- QuinceCydonia oblongaA good late-spring nectar and pollen source with large accessible flowers.
- MedlarMespilus germanicaA good late-spring nectar and pollen source with exceptionally accessible flowers.
- Norway mapleAcer platanoidesAn excellent early nectar and pollen source, and one of the more significant urban resources in European towns.
- WhitebeamSorbus ariaA good spring nectar source with completely accessible flowers.
- DogwoodCornus sanguineaA good early summer nectar source at a point where the hedgerow sequence would otherwise thin.
- SpindleEuonymus europaeusA modest nectar source and a highly accessible one, which makes it disproportionately useful to small bees.
- BuckthornRhamnus catharticaA modest but highly accessible nectar source over several weeks.
- Wild privetLigustrum vulgareA good midsummer nectar source, entirely dependent on the shrub being allowed to flower.
- Dog roseRosa caninaNo nectar at all and an outstanding pollen source. This is exactly the distinction that makes rating nectar and pollen separately worthwhile — a single bee-friendliness score would either overstate or dismiss it.
- Winter-flowering cherryPrunus x subhirtellaModest in volume and disproportionately valuable in timing — this is a plant whose worth is entirely about when it flowers.
- DaphneDaphneA good early nectar source, and valuable disproportionately for its timing.
- Hardy cyclamenCyclamen coumModest in volume and valuable in timing, covering the two thinnest points in the garden year.
- Siberian squillScilla sibericaGenerous for its size on both counts, and valuable specifically for its timing.
- Grecian windflowerAnemone blandaLittle nectar and abundant pollen, which is what colonies rearing brood in March most need.
- Lesser celandineFicaria vernaA moderate nectar source and a generous pollen source at exactly the point in the year when colonies need pollen for brood.
- BugleAjuga reptansA good nectar source at a point in the season that is thinner than it looks, and specifically in shade where options are few.
- HonestyLunaria annuaA good spring nectar source in a season that is thinner than it appears, particularly in shade.
- Sweet rocketHesperis matronalisA good early summer nectar source, and one of the better plants for the day and night shift together.
- AubrietaAubrieta deltoideaGenerous on both counts for its size, and the flower density makes a modest plant into a substantial resource.
- Wild garlicAllium ursinumA generous late-spring nectar and pollen source with completely accessible flowers.
- ColumbineAquilegia vulgarisA good nectar source that most bees cannot reach legitimately — which is precisely what makes it interesting.
- Hemp agrimonyEupatorium cannabinumAn outstanding late-summer nectar source and one of the more productive plants in a European garden for its size.
- Joe Pye weedEutrochium purpureumAn outstanding late-season nectar and pollen source, and one of the most heavily visited plants in a late border.
- Culver's rootVeronicastrum virginicumA generous nectar and pollen source over an unusually long period for a single plant.
- Blazing starLiatris spicataAn outstanding summer nectar source, and among the most heavily worked prairie plants.
- Woodland sageSalvia nemorosaAn outstanding nectar source over an exceptionally long season, and one of the best border plants for bumblebees.
- Lesser calamintClinopodium nepetaAn outstanding nectar source with one of the longest useful seasons of any garden perennial.
- Russian sageSalvia yangiiAn outstanding late nectar source over a long season, and reliable in drought when many border plants have stopped.
- BluebeardCaryopteris x clandonensisAn outstanding late-season nectar source, and among the busiest shrubs in a September garden.
- AbeliaLinnaea x grandifloraA good nectar source over one of the longest seasons of any garden shrub.
- EscalloniaEscallonia rubraA good nectar source over a long season, entirely dependent on the shrub being allowed to flower.
- Shrubby cinquefoilDasiphora fruticosaA moderate nectar source and a generous pollen source across an unusually long season.
- St John's wortHypericum perforatumNo nectar whatsoever and an outstanding pollen source. A single bee-friendliness score would misrepresent this plant in either direction.
- Tree mallowMalva arboreaA generous nectar source and an outstanding pollen source, with unusually large sticky pollen grains.
- HollyhockAlcea roseaA generous nectar source and an outstanding pollen source, with exceptionally large grains.
- Poached egg plantLimnanthes douglasiiAn outstanding nectar and pollen source, and among the most heavily visited plants for its size in a temperate garden.
- California poppyEschscholzia californicaNo nectar at all and an outstanding pollen source over a long season.
- Crimson cloverTrifolium incarnatumA good nectar and pollen source, and accessible to honey bees in a way that red clover is not.
- Fodder radishRaphanus sativusA generous late nectar and pollen source in arable country where autumn forage is otherwise nearly absent.
- ChivesAllium schoenoprasumA generous nectar and pollen source in a plant almost every garden already has.
- CorianderCoriandrum sativumA generous and highly accessible nectar and pollen source.
- AngelicaAngelica archangelicaAn outstanding and extremely accessible nectar and pollen source, and one of the best single plants for insect diversity in a garden.
- Globe artichokeCynara cardunculusAn outstanding nectar and pollen source, and one of the single most productive flowers in a garden.
- Common fleabanePulicaria dysentericaA generous late-summer nectar and pollen source with completely accessible flowers.
- ZinniaZinnia elegansA good late nectar and pollen source in single-flowered forms, and close to worthless in fully double ones.
- Mexican sunflowerTithonia rotundifoliaAn outstanding late-season nectar source, and among the best autumn annuals for large bees and butterflies.
- FatsiaFatsia japonicaA generous late-autumn nectar and pollen source, and among the very last available anywhere.
- ElaeagnusElaeagnus x submacrophyllaA generous late-autumn nectar source, and valuable disproportionately for its timing.
- Seven-son flowerHeptacodium miconioidesA generous late-season nectar source, and among the better shrubs for autumn forage.
- AgapanthusAgapanthus praecoxA good summer nectar source, with each head offering dozens of flowers in a single visit.
- Giant catmintNepeta racemosaAn outstanding nectar source over one of the longest seasons of any garden perennial.
- Sea buckthornHippophae rhamnoidesA genuinely useful early pollen source in a season when protein is scarce, and not a nectar plant at all. Honey sold as sea buckthorn honey is normally a blossom honey from the surrounding flora, or an infusion of berry juice into honey — both legitimate products, neither a monofloral.
- MotherwortLeonurus cardiacaA heavy nectar plant with a long season, widely recommended in Russian and Ukrainian beekeeping literature and largely overlooked elsewhere.
- Holm oakQuercus ilexA pollen source in spring and, in the right years, a substantial honeydew source from midsummer onwards. The two have nothing to do with each other.
- MoringaMoringa oleiferaA dependable year-round trickle rather than a flow, which in a dryland landscape is worth more than its volume suggests.
- Oil-tea camelliaCamellia oleiferaEnormous in volume and awkward in practice: the nectar contains oligosaccharides that honey bees digest poorly, and colonies working it heavily can suffer brood problems and adult mortality.
- LycheeLitchi chinensisOne of the most valuable subtropical orchard flows there is, and a crop whose yield rises measurably where colonies are present.
- TamarindTamarindus indicaA valuable hot-season source across India and the Sahel, and one of the few substantial flows available immediately before the rains.
- Sweet thornVachellia karrooA major southern African honey crop and, in many districts, the single most important source there is.
- Common milkweedAsclepias syriacaA heavy nectar source and a poor pollen one, because the pollen is not loose — it is bound into paired pollinia that attach mechanically to a visitor.
- ManzanitaArctostaphylos speciesThe critical winter and early-spring source across Californian chaparral, feeding colonies through the build-up towards almond pollination.
- SafflowerCarthamus tinctoriusA modest but well-timed flow that fills a real gap in irrigated arid farming country.
- SumacRhus speciesAn underrated source, notable because it grows in exactly the marginal roadside and old-field ground that supports little else.
- Mountain mintPycnanthemum speciesRepeatedly recorded as attracting more pollinator species than any other plant in comparative garden trials, and a genuinely outstanding choice for insect diversity rather than for honey volume.
- StringybarkEucalyptus macrorhyncha and related speciesOne of the mainstays of Australian commercial honey production, valued for both a heavy nectar flow and good pollen.
- PaperbarkMelaleuca speciesA reliable coastal and wetland flow across eastern Australia, and valuable partly because it occupies ground the drier eucalypts do not.
- Yellow gumEucalyptus leucoxylonAmong the most valuable winter forage trees in southern Australia, and widely planted in shelterbelts and street plantings for that reason.
- Swamp mahoganyEucalyptus robustaA keystone winter nectar source for the whole east coast fauna, and a substantial commercial honey flow alongside that.
- Five fingerPseudopanax arboreusThe principal winter forage across much of lowland New Zealand, and important to native birds as much as to bees.
- TowaiWeinmannia silvicolaThe first native forest crop of the northern New Zealand season, and one that is increasingly marketed on its own terms rather than blended.
- WilgaGeijera parvifloraA dependable inland source when the rains have come, and one of the few trees that gives the western New South Wales apiaries anything at all in winter.
Other garden context groups
Tools that use these records
- Flowering calendar
What should I plant so that something is always in flower for bees?
- Bee-friendly garden planner
What should I plant in the space I actually have?
- Plant recommendation tool
Which plant fills this specific gap?