In a Vase on Monday: It’s All About The Bees!

It has been a good year for the bees…. very sunny all spring and summer, with little rain and hardly any storms. There are a couple of plants that are smothered in bees and other pollinators at the moment, and I decided to dedicate a vase to them as I join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her weekly meme. Follow the link to see other Monday vases from around the world.

So, first of all the Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) has recently begun to open and it is already very popular with busy insects. I love seeing this splash of yellow in the countryside as it signals late summer and the onset of my favourite time of year.

And in the Words and Herbs Bed the Agastache is one of the bee magnets. This one is A. ‘Blue Fortune’.

These were the starting point for my vase – two tall plants!

Another bee favourite (butterflies too) is Verbena bonariensis, also tall, so I added some of that, along with some Winter Savory from the Herb Bed and one sprig of the very tall Veronicastrum ‘Diana’ from the Moon Bed.

The Veronicastrum is only just about in flower, but already smothered in insects. I like to pick some before the sun spoils the flowers.

The Agastache goes on flowering for weeks but did take a while to get going this year after our cool nights all spring.

I realized that all of these flowers have something in common. Firstly they are all tall (well the savory not quite so tall), like beacons waving to the bees in the breeze – ‘Come and get it!’ And secondly, they all have dozens if not hundreds of tiny flowers on each inflorescence, providing pollen galore!

More new tiny flowers open on each cluster daily, which means the supply can last several weeks.

Other favourites here are currently the Borage and Hyssop. I wonder which plants in your garden the bees like best?

Have a good week, and Happy Gardening!