The best summer annuals for bees
Most gardens are at their best in June and empty by late August. The plants worth adding are the ones that flower after the first flush is over.
The rule behind this list
Every plant in the catalogue recorded as an annual or biennial. Filtered to plants whose flowering window overlaps June to August.
Months here are northern-hemisphere temperate. Southern-hemisphere readers should shift by roughly six months — but that shift is an approximation rather than a translation, because day length, rainfall pattern and the local flora do not shift with it. Records that genuinely span both hemispheres say so.
What to prioritise in summer
The competition here is fierce — almost everything flowers in June — so the useful question is not what flowers in summer but what flowers in late August. Marjoram, knapweed, scabious, agastache, Russian sage, sedum and heather all carry a garden through the point at which the June planting has finished. A second flush from cutting back catmint, geranium and salvia in early July costs nothing and buys six weeks.
The summer mistake
Deadheading everything and cutting the herbs before they flower. Both remove exactly the forage the plant was going to provide, and both are done for tidiness rather than for the plant's benefit.
In flower through the whole of summer
- BorageBorago officinalisJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- PhaceliaPhacelia tanacetifoliaJune to October. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Minor honey crop
- Viper's buglossEchium vulgareJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- CalendulaCalendula officinalisMay to December. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- CornflowerCentaurea cyanusJune to September. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Common poppyPapaver rhoeasMay to August. Nectar none, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- Sweet cloverMelilotus officinalisJune to August. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- Wild carrotDaucus carotaJune to September. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Yellow starthistleCentaurea solstitialisJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- Yellow rattleRhinanthus minorMay to August. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Common ragwortJacobaea vulgarisJune to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Squash and pumpkinCucurbita pepoJune to September. Nectar high, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- Tree mallowMalva arboreaJune to October. Nectar high, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- HollyhockAlcea roseaJune to September. Nectar high, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- California poppyEschscholzia californicaMay to September. Nectar none, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- CorianderCoriandrum sativumJune to August. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- AngelicaAngelica archangelicaJune to August. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Spanish needleBidens albaJanuary to December. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- SafflowerCarthamus tinctoriusJune to August. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Minor honey crop
In flower for part of summer
- SunflowerHelianthus annuusJuly to September. Nectar high, pollen very high.Major honey crop
- FoxgloveDigitalis purpureaJune to July. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Oilseed rapeBrassica napusApril to June. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Major honey crop
- BuckwheatFagopyrum esculentumJuly to September. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- CosmosCosmos bipinnatusJuly to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- TeaselDipsacus fullonumJuly to August. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- ThistleGalactites tomentosaMay to July. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- Forget-me-notMyosotis sylvaticaApril to June. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Red bartsiaOdontites vernusJuly to September. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Himalayan balsamImpatiens glanduliferaJuly to October. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Major honey crop
- Field beanVicia fabaMay to July. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- SesameSesamum indicumJuly to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- HonestyLunaria annuaApril to June. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Sweet rocketHesperis matronalisMay to July. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Poached egg plantLimnanthes douglasiiApril to July. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Crimson cloverTrifolium incarnatumMay to July. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Fodder radishRaphanus sativusAugust to November. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- ZinniaZinnia elegansJuly to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Mexican sunflowerTithonia rotundifoliaAugust to October. Nectar very high, pollen high.Not a honey source
- SoybeanGlycine maxJuly to August. Nectar moderate, pollen low.Minor honey crop
Check these against your region before planting
8 plants in this group carry an invasiveness or legal restriction note somewhere in the world: Viper's bugloss, Teasel, Thistle, Yellow starthistle, Himalayan balsam, Common ragwort, Sweet rocket, Spanish needle. 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.
Honeys from these plants
- Sunflower honeyStraw, beeswax and pollen, with a slightly waxy mouthfeel and a fresh, faintly herbal edge.
- Rapeseed honeyVery sweet, very mild, faintly cabbage-like when fresh and cleanly bland once set. Texture is what it has instead of flavour.
- Himalayan forest honeyComplex and warm, with a herbal and faintly smoky character reflecting both the flora and the traditional processing — spring honey is lighter and more floral, autumn honey darker and more resinous.
- Buckwheat honeyMalt, molasses and wet straw, with a savoury, almost animal depth. The most polarising honey in general production.
- Borage honeyVery light and very clean, with a faint cucumber-fresh note that fades with age. Sweetness without commentary.
- Tajinaste honeyDelicate and clean with a light floral sweetness and a faint mineral edge from the volcanic ground — subtle rather than characterful.
- Salvation Jane honeyMild and clean with a soft floral sweetness — pleasant, unassertive and produced in enormous quantity.
- Sweet clover honeyWarm, sweet and hay-like with a soft vanilla note that is genuinely there rather than imagined — the clearest coumarin character of any common honey.
- Siberian taiga honeyComplex and warm with a herbal lift over caramel, and a density that comes directly from the low moisture — thick, concentrated and long on the palate.
- Prairie honeyClean, mild and creamy, with a light floral sweetness. The reference point for what a great many people think honey tastes like.
- Thistle honeyWarm and herbaceous with a hay-and-spice character and a faint bitterness at the end.
- Coriander honeyWarm and spicy with an unmistakable coriander-seed aroma over a caramel base — one of the most immediately recognisable honeys there is.
Keep going
Plan the season
- Seasonal bee planner
It is this season and I want to do this — what should I plant?
- 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?