Flowers for Pollinators

  

Spring has officially begun! So if you're already planting seeds, here are some more ideas that you should definitely add to your garden. It's important to have flowers for pollinators as they are really beneficial to your garden. Pollinators, like bees and butterflies help plants make fruits and seeds by transferring pollen from flower to flower. Some of these flowers attract other beneficial insects to your garden, like ladybugs, who can help you get rid of aphids. Plus, it's also really fun to watch the little insects do their thing on the flowers! I have hundreds, if not thousands of pictures on my phone of all the bees, butterflies, hover flies, ladybugs, and more!

1. Red clover - while this is considered to be a weed by many, I'd urge you to leave a spot in your garden for all the weeds and wildflowers as they usually attract lots of pollinators. I've seen some people on the Internet also replace grass with clover as it's much more beneficial to the wildlife around them. 

2. Snapdragon - these attract lots of bees with their sweet smell and bright colours. They can be annuals and perennials, it just depends on your climate. If you live in a place with a cold and hard winter they usually die back but if you live in a warmer place, you should expect them to grow back! I also love how many different colours they come in and their smell resembles bubblegum to me.

3. Borage - also known as star flower, or appropriately a bee flower. These flowers are a definite favourite of bees! They're also really easy to grow but be careful, due to that, they can really easily take over your garden. Some people use the leaves of borage to make tea and the flowers are also edible. The fresh flowers have a very sugary so you can use them as a garnish on cakes for example or use them in drinks. 

4. Cornflower - a very common flower here in Estonia, also the national flower of Estonia. This is an annual flower that is very easy to grow. Due to it's colour, it also attracts a lot of bees. You can gather the fresh flowers and then dry them and use them as garnish or in teas. 

5. Daisy - some people consider this to be a weed because here it can grow in the grass everywhere. But again, one of the easiest plant to attract beneficial insects with. 

6. Phlox - butterflies love red and purple flowers, so you can use these plants to attract butterflies. Like snapdragons, they are perennials and annuals.

7. Lavender - since bees can see the colour purple more clearly than any other colour, you can use this plant to attract bees. They also have a mild smell that butterflies like. Lavender is also a big favourite of mine and I love to grow it because of the flowers that I usually later dry and use in teas, cooking or in my closet if I want to make my clothes smell nice. If you have moths somewhere, you can also repel moths with dried lavender!

8. Aster - these are great late summer, early fall flowers when most flowers are done blooming. They're also pretty frost-resistant so that means they're a valuable late-season source of pollen for bees and nectar for bees and butterflies.

9. Mint - not only is mint a great herb to grow, it's also beneficial to bees and butterflies once they flower. I really encourage you to leave the flowers on your mint plants and all the beneficial insects will thank you for that. Probably the most common way to use mint is to save the leaves, let them dry and then use in teas. Nothing better than drinking your own homegrown mint tea.

10. Dandelion - considered a weed by many, it's a great flower to have in your garden. Again, you can have a weed/wildflower part in your garden that you leave as is and that will attract lots of beneficial insects to your garden if you don't like dandelions growing in your garden beds. I usually try to leave dandelions where I can because they can be really good for your garden as they for example, help to improve the soil, among many other things. Some people also eat the leaves and flowers of the dandelion. I've also made dandelion honey, which tastes like very buttery maple syrup.

11. Calendula - another great flower to grow for pollinators and for yourself because you can dry the flowers and use them in teas, food or make yourself some salves. They're really easy to grow, and like borage, will come back every year in the same location if left alone. 

12. Sunflower - they're big, they're bright and they have a mild smell, which means the bees go crazy for them. The birds also love them when they go into seed. Or you can always eat the seeds yourself as they're good for you!

13. Coneflower - also known as echinacea, are really big and gorgeous flowers, that attract bees and other pollinators to your garden. They are perennials, that are easy to grow and are also heat and drought resistant. They also bloom really long, which makes them an excellent plant for pollinators.

14. Rudbeckia - also known as black-eyed Susan, are perennials and they are attractive to both bees and butterflies. They flower in late summer to fall, which means when everything else is already done blooming, the insects can use these plants as a source of food.