Buttercup family plants for bees
The winter and earliest-spring family. Mostly pollen rather than nectar, and that is exactly what an emerging queen needs.
Why this family matters
Ranunculaceae is a family of early risers. Hellebores, winter aconites, lesser celandine and winter clematis all flower between December and April, several of them in the depths of winter, and they do it with open bowl-shaped flowers holding abundant accessible pollen. Pollen rather than nectar is the point: a bumblebee queen emerging from hibernation needs protein to start a brood, and there is very little of it available in February. A garden that has hellebores and aconites has covered the hardest month in the year.
When it flowers
December to April for the important members — hellebore from December, winter aconite in January, lesser celandine from February, windflower in March. Japanese anemone is the outlier at the other end of the year, flowering August to October.
Which bees it serves
Overwhelmingly a bumblebee-queen family, because queens are the bees flying on the mild days when these plants are open. Honey bees will work hellebores on a warm winter afternoon. Several members carry little or no nectar, so the flowering-calendar entry for this family should be read as pollen coverage rather than as a nectar flow.
Worth knowing before you plant it
Most of this family is toxic to people and livestock — aconite severely so. That is not a reason to avoid planting, but it is a reason to know what is in a border where children or animals graze.
Buttercup family plants in the catalogue
- HelleboreHelleborusDecember to April. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Winter aconiteEranthis hyemalisJanuary to March. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Japanese anemoneAnemone × hybridaAugust to October. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Winter clematisClematis cirrhosaNovember to March. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Grecian windflowerAnemone blandaMarch to April. Nectar low, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Lesser celandineFicaria vernaFebruary to May. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Not a honey source
- ColumbineAquilegia vulgarisMay to June. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
What this group covers
11 of 12 months have something in flower. Nectar and pollen are counted separately and a month counts only where at least one plant offers that resource at moderate value or better — a plant in flower is not the same as a plant worth visiting.
| Month | In flower | Nectar | Pollen |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3 | Yes | Yes |
| February | 4 | Yes | Yes |
| March | 5 | Yes | Yes |
| April | 3 | Yes | Yes |
| May | 2 | Yes | Yes |
| June | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| July | nothing | No | No |
| August | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| September | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| October | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| November | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| December | 2 | Yes | Yes |
What this group does not cover
Nothing in flower: July. Planting only from this group would leave those months empty.
Check these against your region before planting
1 plant in this group carry an invasiveness or legal restriction note somewhere in the world: Lesser celandine. HoneyHQ does not know where you are and will not guess, so it flags rather than filters.
Bees these plants are recorded with
Taken from the relationships on each plant record. These are the well-attested associations rather than an exhaustive list of visitors, so treat the number as a floor.
Other families
- Daisy family
- Mint family
- Rose family
- Pea family
- Honeysuckle family
- Heather family
- Myrtle family
- Cabbage family
- Borage family
- Carrot family
- Mallow family
- Onion family
- Buckthorn family
- Maple and horse chestnut family
- Sapodilla family
- Plantain family
- Citrus family
- Protea family
- Primrose family
- Asparagus family
- Currant family
- Elder and viburnum family
- Pine family
- Cashew and mango family
- Palm family
- Ivy family
- Oak and chestnut family
- Leatherwood family
- Spurge family
Plan with these
- 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?