Our gardens are extremely important for bees and other pollinators, providing them with the nectar and pollen they need to thrive, as well as nesting habitats. Nectar provides them with the energy they need to fly and find a nest, while pollen provides bee grubs with the protein they need to grow. By growing a good mix of flowering plants in your garden, you can provide a wealth of nectar and pollen for a wide range of bee species.


How to grow plants for bees

Choose single, open flowers where you can see the central part of the flower – where the bees can access the nectar and pollen. Different bees are active at different times of the year. Some emerge from hibernation as early as February, while others are still flying in November. To give bees the best possible chance to thrive, it’s therefore important to grow flowers from late winter to autumn – all year round if possible.

Find out more about the best plants to grow for bees, below.

Grow single flowers for bees

Most double flowers are of little use, as they have so many petals the bees can’t get to the central part of the flower, where the nectar and pollen are found. Roses and dahlias are often bred to have double flowers, but there are plenty of beautiful single-flowered varieties to grow, instead.

Discover single dahlias to grow

Grow purple flowers for bees

Bees can see the colour purple more clearly than any other colour, and some of the best bee plants, such as lavender, alliums, buddleja and catmint, have purple flowers. That said, many flowers in other colours will still attract bees, so don’t pull them up!

Grow tubular-shaped flowers for bees

Tubular-shaped flowers such as foxgloves, honeysuckle, penstemons and snapdragons are an important source of food for long-tongued bees such as the garden bumblebee, Bombus hortorum.

Grow flowers all year round

Most bees are most active from March to September, but some emerge from hibernation early in mild winters, while buff-tailed bumblebee queens will occasionally start nesting in autumn, rather than hibernating, establishing a ‘winter colony’. Aim to have at least two nectar- or pollen-rich plants in flower during winter. Plants like winter honeysuckle and winter clematis are perfect for the job.

Spring flowers for bees

Bluebell

Bugle

Crab apple

Crocus

Flowering cherry and currant

Forget-me-not

Hawthorn

Primrose

Pulmonaria

Rhododendron

Rosemary

Early-summer flowers for bees

Campanula

Comfrey

Delphinium

Foxglove

Hardy geranium

Honesty

Hollyhock

Potentilla

Snapdragon

Stachys

Teasel

Thyme

Verbascum

Late-summer flowers


Aster

Buddleja

Cardoon

Cornflower

Dahlia (single-flowered)

Eryngium

Globe thistle

Heather

Ivy

Lavender

Penstemon

Scabious

Sedum

Verbena bonariensis