Over the past couple of years, I have become obsessed with herb gardens. I once planted a tiny little basil plant, and after that it just spiraled out of control. Since then I’ve had multiple variations on mint, thyme, sage, basil, hyssop, coriander, grasses and balms. My garden basically smells like an Italian restaurant every time it rains. But as it turns out, I’m not the only one that enjoys them. If you leave your herbs long enough for them to bloom, they will attract a wide arrange of bees, butterflies and other insects. Leaving herbs to bloom might take away from their taste, especially at the end of the growing season, but for me that doesn’t matter much.

So here are some herbs you can plant that will attract the most bees and butterflies! Make sure to plant them soon so you can reap the full benefits of them.

Borage (Borago officinalis)

Also known as Starflower, borage is one of the most attractive herbs for bees. Its blooms are bright blue and shallow, which mostly attracts bees with short tongues. The entire plant is edible. The flowers taste a bit like honey, while the leaves taste more like cucumber. Fun fact: in the Netherlands, borage is also known as Cucumberweed! If planted early enough, borage will bear flowers throughout the year.

Sage (Salvia)

Sage is a hardy herb with thick leaves. This plant has been used for centuries in cooking and medicine, and nowadays often serves as an ornamental flower. It grows tall, purple flowers, which are especially attractive to leafcutter bees and garden bumblebees. It flowers during the early spring and throughout the summer.

Sage

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

Lemon Balm is one of my personal favorites when it comes to herbs. I have at least 6 plants of them every summer, not only for their lovely, lemon-like smell, but also because I often use the leaves in tea, lemonades, pesto and curries. It has beautiful white flowers, which pop up throughout the summer, and is very attractive to all types of bees.

Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis)

Hyssop is a sweet tasting herb that tastes a bit like a combination of mint and sage. It tolerates drought well, loves the sun, and bears pretty blue, pink or sometimes white flowers. The flowers are quite deep, which means only long-tongued bees are attracted to them, including bumblebees.

Thyme (Thymus)

Thyme is a plant that tastes great, smells great, and looks great. There are many different variations of this plant, one of them being lemon thyme, which is my personal favorite. Honeybees, carpenter bees, mason bees, leafcutter bees and bumblebees all LOVE this plant, which flowers during the summer.

Mint (Mentha)

Mint is a beautiful, yet persistent plant. I highly suggest to only plant this herb in pots, since it grows incredibly fast and has the capability of completely overwhelming other plants. There are a lot of different variations on this plant, all of which are edible, such as strawberry mint, lemon mint, apple mint and even chocolate mint. It flowers during the summer and early autumn, and it attractive to a lot of different types of insects.

Mint

Lavender (Lavandula)

Lavender is a great plant if you want to help your buzzing friends throughout the year. The many different variations of this plant can make for a very consistent source of food for bees, from spring to autumn. They come in all sorts of colors, such as the common purple, pink, blue, white, and a lot of different shades between these colors. They smell great and look great in practically every garden. You can dry the flowers and seeds to use in homemade potpourri.

Ofcourse there are many, many more herbs you can plant if you want to help the bees and butterflies a little, but it’s just impossible to add all of them to this list. All of the above flowers are relatively easy to plant, grow and care for. A tip: plant some flowers during the early spring, and some in the beginning of the summer. This will ensure that there’s always a steady supply of food for the bees, even when summer is at its end.