Common fleabane
A damp-ground perennial with bright yellow daisy flowers from July to September, and one of the more heavily worked late-summer plants in a wet meadow. It is a mainstay for small solitary bees at a point in the year when much of the grassland has already been cut.
Value to bees
- Nectar
- High
- Pollen
- High
- As a honey crop
- Not a honey source
- Which bees, and why
- An open composite head accessible to short-tongued and small-bodied bees, and one of the plants the yellow-composite specialists depend on. It is also a principal nectar source for several late butterflies.
An open composite head with shallow florets — accessible to every short-tongued bee.
- Worth knowing
- A generous late-summer nectar and pollen source with completely accessible flowers.
Flowering
- In flower
- July to September (northern hemisphere)
A late summer season, running when much of the meadow has been cut.
Growing it
- Conditions
- Sun or part shade on damp to wet ground. It spreads by runners in suitable conditions.
- Size
- 40-80 cm tall.
- Native range
- Europe, North Africa and western Asia, on damp meadow, ditch, marsh and riverbank.
- Suits
- Meadow or wildflower area, Large gardens
- Suits a pond margin, damp meadow or ditch bank.
- Spreads by runners in wet ground and can be vigorous; give it room.
- Leave the seedheads standing over winter for birds and overwintering invertebrates.
What it looks like
An upright downy perennial with clasping wavy-edged leaves and loose clusters of bright yellow daisy flowers with narrow rays and a domed centre.
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?