Small gardens
Where space is the constraint. Pick a few very long-flowering plants rather than many short ones, and spend the rest on seasons the neighbours will not cover.
168 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- VitexVitex negundoVery high nectar in a short window, from a plant that covers whole mountainsides.
- BanksiaBanksiaTop nectar production in the catalogue for sheer volume per flower head, delivered in the Australian cool season when little else is open.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 sageSalvia melliferaAn outstanding nectar source in a good year, and the backbone of the chaparral forage sequence.
- Sweet orangeCitrus sinensisA heavy nectar source over a substantial period, and moderate for pollen.
- CranberryVaccinium macrocarponA moderate nectar and pollen source, and one that honey bees are notably reluctant to work when anything else is available.
- GallberryIlex glabraAn excellent late-spring nectar source across the southeastern coastal plain.
- HarebellCampanula rotundifoliaA moderate nectar source and a critical pollen source — critical not in volume but in that specific bees can use nothing else.
- CatsearHypochaeris radicataA generous and long-running pollen source through the summer months, and moderate for nectar.
- 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.
- SelfhealPrunella vulgarisA good nectar source and a moderate pollen source, and unusually valuable because it delivers them in mown grass.
- 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.
- 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.
- SnowberrySymphoricarpos albusA good nectar source with an exceptionally long season, which is its principal virtue.
- BottlebrushMelaleuca citrinaAn excellent nectar and pollen source with pollen presented openly on exposed stamens.
- 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.
- SesameSesamum indicumA good nectar and pollen source, and unusual in offering nectar from two different kinds of gland.
- Resin spurgeEuphorbia resiniferaA good spring nectar source on ground that offers very little else.
- Bitter aloeAloe feroxAn excellent winter nectar and pollen source in a landscape with few alternatives at that season.
- 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.
- ApricotPrunus armeniacaA good early nectar and pollen source, and valuable disproportionately for its timing.
- PeachPrunus persicaA good early nectar and pollen source across the orchard regions.
- 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.
- Winter-flowering cherryPrunus x subhirtellaModest in volume and disproportionately valuable in timing — this is a plant whose worth is entirely about when it flowers.
- Winter clematisClematis cirrhosaModest in volume and valuable specifically for its timing.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- ChivesAllium schoenoprasumA generous nectar and pollen source in a plant almost every garden already has.
- Winter savorySatureja montanaAn outstanding nectar source for its size, and one of the best small aromatic herbs for bees.
- 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.
- 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.
- Greek heathErica manipulifloraThe most important autumn forage across much of the Aegean, and the reason colonies there can be wintered without heavy feeding.
- TulsiOcimum tenuiflorumA dependable post-monsoon source in Indian apiaries, and one of the few whose cultivated area is driven by religious and medicinal use rather than by agriculture.
- AjwainTrachyspermum ammiOne of the more useful spice-crop flows in northwestern India, and valuable for its timing as much as its volume.
- ManzanitaArctostaphylos speciesThe critical winter and early-spring source across Californian chaparral, feeding colonies through the build-up towards almond pollination.
- 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.
- Five fingerPseudopanax arboreusThe principal winter forage across much of lowland New Zealand, and important to native birds as much as to bees.
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