A Bee-Friendly Garden For Spring (1)

Honeybee on Hellebore

It's stormy here again today, but on Sunday we had some lovely sunshine (and it even felt a bit warm at last). To make the most of it, we met with some friends and had lunch on one of the Thames barges moored up in the quay at Maldon.  I love the barges and I was delighted to discover that the cafe was on 'Thistle', which was the same barge I hired out for my family for part of Mum and Dad's Golden Wedding Anniversary celebrations a few years ago.  We had a fabulous day then - and being back on 'Thistle' brought back all those memories.

Thames Barges

Anyway, this brief glimpse of sunshine has also made me think about plans for the garden and whether it will look how I want it to look this spring. Most of all, I want to be sure that it's as bee-friendly as it can be. I'm planning to move more beehives back to the smallholding (from the fields) and it's important that there are enough flowers here and in the surrounding area for my honeybees (and other pollinators) to enjoy.

So; here is a wander around the garden (and the smallholding) with a review of all the flowers the bees will forage on from late winter to late spring. I'm also including the flowers I'll be adding to my 'must-plant-this-year' list.

Crocuses - perfect for bees

Along the edges of the garden under the trees, I can see that there are several clumps of snowdrops flowering.  I've planted them with cyclamens, although these have finished flowering. I'm now considering planting some winter aconites with the snowdrops because I love this combination of white and yellow flowers. The bees will forage on both of them, flying to the aconites when the weather is mild and these little flowers open their petals.

I also have a shady area full of beautiful hellebores, a favourite of mine and of the bees! Another bee-plant is mahonia and so this is a must in my garden. Crocuses are also important for bees in spring and I've planted these just about everywhere, although it's always a disappointment to see how few of the crocuses I've planted actually come up each year. What on earth happens to them?!!

Many of the spring flowers for bees are yellow, which is a colour bees can see. Bees, like us, can also see green and blue, but they can't see red, and when they're drawn to a bright red flower like a field poppy, they're drawn not to the red in it but to pigments that reflect ultraviolet (which is a colour they can see and we can't, of course).  The pollen they collect from field poppies is a dark blue.

Wood anemone - loved by pollinators

In my local woods, bees will forage on wood anemones and bluebells. In the fields they'll be attracted to dandelion.  Apparently dandelions mainly release pollen in the mornings, so this is when they'll be particularly attractive to bees. On the edges of some of the fields, which have been cleared over recent years, I've noticed there are still gorse bushes surviving. Gorse is always reliable because it flowers all year.

In the arable fields, my bees will forage on oilseed rape this year.  It's been planted close to the smallholding and some of it is flowering already (which won't please the landowner).  Bees love this crop - a field of oilseed rape is a real bee-banquet. They become very excited when foraging on it and return to the hive covered in the stuff. They also become very grumpy when the crop has finished flowering, because this plentiful source of food is suddenly no longer available.

Apple blossom

Bees also look for flowers in the trees and hedgerows and here, they'll find catkins; apple, pear and cherry blossom, horse chestnut, and blackthorn.  I have lots of hawthorn, too, but this doesn't always provide something for bees (it varies from year to year), possibly due to warmth and weather.

Bees love grape hyacinths and wallflowers.  I have grape hyacinths due to flower but I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't get around to planting any wallflowers for spring this year. The seeds are still in the packets! I would like to grow lots of wallflowers so this is a must-do for this year. Meanwhile, in my herb garden, I do have plenty of rosemary, which is the best early flowering herb for bees.

Clematis Montana 'Rubens'

Close to the house, the bees will be attracted to the clematis montana covering the pergola in April and May. They will love the pyracantha and holly when they flower, too.

So, having reviewed the garden, I'm pleased that my bees and other pollinators will have something to interest them here from now until May.  But I'm aiming, next year, to have so much more ready for them.