The best spring climbers for bees
The plants that flower between March and May are feeding colony expansion and solitary emergence at once. Quantity matters less here than presence.
The rule behind this list
Every plant in the catalogue recorded as a climber, plus plants suited to walls and fences. Filtered to plants whose flowering window overlaps March to May.
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 spring
Spring planting competes with nothing — this is the season most gardens are already reasonably covered in, thanks to fruit blossom, bulbs and the willows. The genuine gaps sit at either end: early March, before the blossom starts, and late May, in the pause between fruit blossom and the summer perennials. A plant that covers either of those is worth two that flower in April.
The spring mistake
Tidying. The single most damaging spring habit is cutting, mowing and clearing at exactly the moment bees need the ground undisturbed and the dandelions flowering. A lawn left uncut through April produces more forage than most deliberate planting, and it costs nothing.
In flower through the whole of spring
In flower for part of spring
- CotoneasterCotoneasterMay to June. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- PyracanthaPyracantha coccineaMay to June. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- White bryonyBryonia dioicaMay to September. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Not a honey source
- ApricotPrunus armeniacaFebruary to April. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- PeachPrunus persicaMarch to April. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Winter clematisClematis cirrhosaNovember to March. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Giant catmintNepeta racemosaMay to October. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
Check these against your region before planting
1 plant in this group carry an invasiveness or legal restriction note somewhere in the world: Cotoneaster. 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
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?