The best autumn wildflowers for bees
September and October forage is worth disproportionately more than anything else you can plant, because it determines what survives the winter.
63 plants in flower between September and November · 7 through the whole season
The rule behind this list
Plants the catalogue records as suited to a meadow or wildflower area. Filtered to plants whose flowering window overlaps September to November.
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 autumn
This is the highest-value gap in most gardens. Ivy first — allowed to reach adult growth and flower, which means not clipping it. Then the late daisies: Michaelmas asters, sedum, rudbeckia, helenium, Japanese anemone. Then autumn-flowering shrubs like abelia and seven-son flower. A garden that flowers into November is doing something almost no garden does.
The autumn mistake
Clipping ivy, which prevents it ever reaching the flowering growth phase, and pulling out annuals that are still in flower because the border looks untidy. Both remove forage at the moment it is most valuable and least replaceable.
In flower through the whole of autumn
- VerbenaVerbena bonariensisJune to November. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- CalendulaCalendula officinalisMay to December. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Dead-nettleLamiumJanuary to December. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- GorseUlex europaeusJanuary to December. Nectar none, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- Fodder radishRaphanus sativusAugust to November. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Greek heathErica manipulifloraSeptember to December. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- Spanish needleBidens albaJanuary to December. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
In flower for part of autumn
- White cloverTrifolium repensMay to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- BrambleRubus fruticosusJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- Wildflower meadowMixed native floraApril to September. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Major honey crop
- BuckwheatFagopyrum esculentumJuly to September. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- AlfalfaMedicago sativaJune to September. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- 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
- DandelionTaraxacum officinaleMarch to October. Nectar high, pollen very high.Minor honey crop
- Rosebay willowherbChamaenerion angustifoliumJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- Viper's buglossEchium vulgareJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Michaelmas daisySymphyotrichum novi-belgiiAugust to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- SageSalviaMay to October. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- MarjoramOriganum vulgareJuly to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- ComfreySymphytum officinaleMay to September. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- CosmosCosmos bipinnatusJuly to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- GoldenrodSolidagoAugust to October. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Major honey crop
- Red cloverTrifolium pratenseMay to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Bird's-foot trefoilLotus corniculatusMay to September. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- KnapweedCentaurea nigraJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Field scabiousKnautia arvensisJuly to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- YarrowAchillea millefoliumJune to October. 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
- Hardy geraniumGeraniumMay to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- EchinaceaEchinacea purpureaJuly to September. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- BetonyBetonica officinalisJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- AgastacheAgastache foeniculumJuly to October. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- BergamotMonarda didymaJuly to September. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Globe thistleEchinops ritroJuly to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Sea hollyEryngiumJuly to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- MeadowsweetFilipendula ulmariaJune to September. Nectar low, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Purple loosestrifeLythrum salicariaJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- Oxeye daisyLeucanthemum vulgareMay to September. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Wild carrotDaucus carotaJune to September. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- FennelFoeniculum vulgareJuly to September. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- ChicoryCichorium intybusJuly to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- RudbeckiaRudbeckia fulgidaAugust to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- HeleniumHelenium autumnaleJuly to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- HarebellCampanula rotundifoliaJuly to September. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Red bartsiaOdontites vernusJuly to September. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- CatsearHypochaeris radicataJune to September. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Small scabiousScabiosa columbariaJune to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Devil's-bit scabiousSuccisa pratensisJuly to October. Nectar very high, pollen high.Not a honey source
- HogweedHeracleum sphondyliumJune to September. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- SelfhealPrunella vulgarisJune to September. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Common ragwortJacobaea vulgarisJune to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Hemp agrimonyEupatorium cannabinumJuly to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Joe Pye weedEutrochium purpureumJuly to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Culver's rootVeronicastrum virginicumJuly to September. Nectar high, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Blazing starLiatris spicataJuly to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Woodland sageSalvia nemorosaJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- St John's wortHypericum perforatumJune to September. Nectar none, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- California poppyEschscholzia californicaMay to September. Nectar none, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- Globe artichokeCynara cardunculusJuly to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Common fleabanePulicaria dysentericaJuly to September. Nectar high, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Mexican sunflowerTithonia rotundifoliaAugust to October. Nectar very high, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Mountain mintPycnanthemum speciesJuly to September. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
Check these against your region before planting
11 plants in this group carry an invasiveness or legal restriction note somewhere in the world: Bramble, Viper's bugloss, Goldenrod, Knapweed, Gorse, Purple loosestrife, Oxeye daisy, Fennel, Common ragwort, St John's wort, 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
- Clover honeyWarm, mild and rounded — sweet with a faint cinnamon-and-hay note underneath. The taste most English-speaking readers picture when they read the word honey.
- Wildflower honeyVaries with the season and the landscape. Pale spring crops are floral and light; late-summer crops darker, fruitier and stronger.
- Berseem honeyMild and clean with a soft floral sweetness and a faint hay note — the archetype of an unassuming everyday honey.
- Urban honeyVaries enormously and is frequently more complex than a rural multifloral, because the flowering succession is longer and the species mix wider.
- Alpine meadow honeyComplex and aromatic, with a herbal lift over warm caramel and a distinctly clean finish — the flavour of a great many plants rather than of any one.
- Karakovan honeyComplex, floral and herbal at once, eaten with the wax. Its character is a mountain and a year rather than a species.
- Buckwheat honeyMalt, molasses and wet straw, with a savoury, almost animal depth. The most polarising honey in general production.
- Alfalfa honeyMild, clean and slightly grassy, with a beeswax note and very little else. A background honey, and good at being one.
- Tree lucerne honeyMild and clean with a soft floral sweetness and a faint nutty note — pleasant, undemanding and mostly eaten by bees rather than people.
- Borage honeyVery light and very clean, with a faint cucumber-fresh note that fades with age. Sweetness without commentary.
- Dandelion honeySharp, pungent and unmistakably strong for a spring honey — a chamomile-and-hay aroma with an animal note behind it that fades as the honey ages.
- Fireweed honeyVery delicate, buttery and faintly tea-like, with a clean finish and almost no aftertaste. A honey that rewards attention and disappears if you are not paying any.
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?