Bluebeard
A low late-flowering shrub covered in clusters of intense blue flowers in August and September, and one of the most heavily bee-worked shrubs in a late-summer garden. Its timing is what makes it valuable — it flowers when the border is running down and colonies are still active.
Value to bees
- Nectar
- Very high
- Pollen
- Moderate
- As a honey crop
- Not a honey source
- Which bees, and why
- Worked intensively through late summer and early autumn, when it is frequently the busiest thing in the garden. It is a useful bridge to the ivy flow that follows.
Small two-lipped flowers with a short tube and a projecting style, accessible to a wide range of bees.
- Worth knowing
- An outstanding late-season nectar source, and among the busiest shrubs in a September garden.
Flowering
- In flower
- August to October (northern hemisphere)
A late flow when most of the summer border has finished.
Growing it
- Conditions
- Full sun with free drainage. It is drought-tolerant once established and dislikes cold wet winter soil.
- Size
- 60-100 cm tall and as wide.
- Native range
- A garden hybrid of Chinese and Japanese parents.
- Suits
- Small gardens, Large gardens, Containers and window boxes
- Cut back hard to a low framework each spring — it flowers on new wood, and unpruned plants become sparse and woody.
- Full sun and sharp drainage; it is short-lived on heavy wet clay.
- One of the best small shrubs for a late-season bee garden.
What it looks like
A low rounded deciduous shrub with aromatic grey-green leaves and dense clusters of small intensely blue flowers in the leaf axils along the stems.
Sources
- Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland — Bloomsbury (2015) · Field guide
- HoneyHQ editorial synthesis — HEKNO Ltd · HoneyHQ synthesis
How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.
Guides covering this plant
- How to make a garden genuinely useful to beesMost bee-friendly advice covers flowers in June, which is the one thing bees are least short of. The gaps are at the ends of the year — and half the problem is not flowers at all.
- Autumn plants for beesAutumn forage decides how well colonies enter winter. It is also when one plant does more work than everything else combined, and most people regard it as a nuisance.
Tools for planning planting
- 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?