Attracting bees to the garden

timmysgal1

I haven't seen a single bee at our community garden.  It's in the middle of a former farming field.

I'm concerned that we need them (or maybe we don't?)?  Any ideas to attract them?

Thanks.

stephriz

I learned here that lavender attracts bees.  I have a lavender plant in my garden from the previous owner, and there are always bees buzzing around.

There are probably other plants that attract pollinators too.

mrs.rescue4

I have heard this too....not sure why, but, my lavendar has never attracted bees.  However, my cat mint, hummingbird mint, salvia and butterfly weed all attract a ton of bees!

Inkful

The bees love our lavender too.  They also visit our rhododendrons quite a bit, but I imagine those wouldn't work well in a community garden.

greenbean951

mrs.rescue4:

I have heard this too....not sure why, but, my lavendar has never attracted bees.  However, my cat mint, hummingbird mint, salvia and butterfly weed all attract a ton of bees!

 

This! The cat mint especially attracts bees! There are a lot of different cultivars but one of my personal favorites, and one of the most popular is "Walker's Low' It's an excellent performer in the landscape too

~NB~

It's terrible how rarely I see bees in my yard. I'm redoing the entire thing this year, and making sure I provide enough fodder for the pollinators.

doneatquattro

clover attracts them too....

juno

The lavender does pull in the bees in my yard.  I also have several true geraniums (not pelargoniums), and the bees love that stuff.  They practically roll around drunk in it.  And the flowers are knockouts.  They'd probably ramble well between edibles.  Others that work well for me are cone flowers and penstomen.