17 Plants That Attract Bees To Your Garden

Why Attracting Bees Is Important

Bees are responsible for pollinating much of the food we grow. Flowers provide food and a habitat for these pollinators, whose populations are dwindling. Planting flowers that attract them is an easy way to bring them to your yard. Add colorful bee-friendly flowers like zinnias, flowering herbs, and cosmos as companion plants to your vegetable garden. The bees spread pollen around your vegetable plants, encouraging them to grow and increasing your harvest. Create an area in your yard designed specifically for bees with native flowers and where patches of clover can grow. Bees love it for its nectar.

'Sunset Orange' Gaillardia

• Botanical Name: Gaillardia grandiflora 'Sunset Orange'
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
• Soil Type: Rocky, sandy, tolerates clay, well-drained
• Soil pH: Slightly acidic
• USDA Zones: 5-9

This compact plant holds its shape and its blooms do not fade. It produces heavy blooms early spring to fall. It is drought-tolerant and prefers low water use.

Dark Blue Moody Blues™ Veronica

• Botanical Name: Veronica spicata 'Novaverblu' PP26602
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Soil Type: Well-drained
• Soil pH: Neutral
• USDA Zones: 6-9

Bright spikes of flowers will bloom all season long, right up until the first frost. Also known as Spike Speedwell, use it in mass plantings or mixed with roses and perennials. Its compact shape is just right for containers.

'Princess Dark Lavender' Verbena

• Botanical Name: Verbena 'Princess Dark Lavender'
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Soil Type: Well-drained
• Soil pH: Acidic
• USDA Zones: 8-11

This verbena is a true garden performer with no breaking apart. Vivid green foliage provides a backdrop for crowns of rich, pale purple blooms that form masses of color. This beauty blooms spring until fall.

Azure Skies™ Heliotrope

• Botanical Name: Heliotropum amplexicaule 'Azure Skies'
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Soil Type: Moist, well-drained
• Soil pH: Acidic to Alkaline
• USDA Zones:7-11

This low-growing, spreading perennial features light lavender flower clusters and light green leaves. It is incredibly heat tolerant. Use as ground cover or in planters where it will trail and make a great spiller plant. We call this perennial "Bambi-proof."

Ever Sapphire™ Agapanthus

• Botanical Name: Agapanthus hybrid 'Ever Sapphire'
• Sun Exposure: Partial to full sun
• Soil Type: Moist, well-drained
• Soil pH: Acidic to alkaline
• USDA Zones: 8-11

Large bi-color flowers change from blue in the throat to white on the petal's edge and are surrounded by green, strap-like foliage. Blooms open in the spring and re-bloom through summer.

Salvia 'Amistad'

• Botanical Name: Salvia hybrid 'Amistad'
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Soil Type: Well-drained
• Soil pH: Neutral to acidic
• USDA Zones: 8-11

Dark purple flowers with nearly black calyx bloom constantly from early spring until frost. Salvia 'Amistad' is more compact and has a fuller habit than other guaranitica types. These flowers are also a magnet for butterflies and hummingbirds.

Ultra Violet™ Buddleia

• Botanical Name: Buddleia hybrid 'Ultra Violet'
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Soil Type: Well-drained
• Soil pH: Neutral to acidic
• USDA Zones: 5-9

This exciting buddleia grows compactly into an attractive rounded shape, unlike other butterfly bushes that often become tall and lanky. Its violet blooms are a beacon for butterflies and honeybees, and it reblooms well from late spring into fall. Use as an accent, in a border, or in a container.

Crazy White™ Echinacea

• Botanical Name: Echinacea 'Noam Saul'
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
• Soil Type: Well-drained
• Soil pH: Neutral to acidic
• USDA Zones: 4-9

Large daisy-like flowers with drooping, pure petals surround a large orange button-shaped cone. Blooms appear earlier than other coneflower. This plant brings power blooming to the border garden, capable of over 100 blooms on a mature plant.

Solar Glow™ Sunbow® Azalea Series

• Botanical Name: Azalea hybrid 'Solar Glow'
• Sun Exposure: Partial, full sun
• Soil Type: Moist, well-drained
• Soil pH: Slightly acidic
• USDA Zones: 5-9

Brilliant spring-blooming deciduous azaleas have larger, colorful, and more showy blooms. They are great for light shade and even sunnier locations. With the added attraction of honeysuckle fragrance, these are a perfect addition to your garden.

Allium

• Botanical Name: Allium spp.
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Soil Type: Sandy, loamy, well-drained
• Soil pH: Slightly acidic
• USDA Zones: 3-9

Plant these bulbs in fall for delightful purple flowers in spring. They are actually ornamental onions that shouldn't be eaten by humans, but bees love to indulge on them. Blooms range in size from a few inches tall to dramatic four-foot pom-poms.

Beardtongue

• Botanical Name: Penstemon spp.
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Soil Type: Well-drained, tolerates clay
• Soil pH: Neutral to acidic
• USDA Zones: 3-8

The spikes on these perennials feature bell-shaped pink, purple, or white flowers. Give them full sun with good drainage. Most varieties grow up to three feet tall, blooming spring through summer.

Bee Balm

• Botanical Name: Monarda spp.
• Sun Exposure: Partial, full sun
• Soil Type: Moist, well-drained, tolerates clay
• Soil pH: Neutral, acidic
• USDA Zones: 4-9

Each petal on a bee balm flower is a tiny tube that holds the nectar pollinators love. These late-bloomers show off red, purple, pink, or white flowers in mid- to late summer. They are a favorite for flower beds. Give bee balm moist soil and partial to full sun.

Goldenrod

• Botanical Name: Solidago spp.
• Sun Exposure: Partial, full sun
• Soil Type: Loamy, clay, well-drained
• Soil pH: Acidic
• USDA Zones: 2-8

In the fall, these wildflowers provide not only rich, golden color in the garden, but they are also bustling with bees. The perennial provides a good source of nectar late in the season. Goldenrod spreads quickly, grows nearly anywhere, and survives on rainwater, making it an easy choice for adding color to a late-season garden.

Catmint

• Botanical Name: Nepeta x faassenii
• Sun Exposure: Partial, full sun
• Soil Type: Clay, sandy, rocky, loamy
• Soil pH: Acidic, neutral, alkaline
• USDA Zones: 3-9

A perennial herb, catmint features lavender-blue flower clusters accented by gray-green leaves. Bees love this fragrant, mounding plant that spreads over time but is not invasive. Cut it back for control.

Black-Eyed Susan

• Botanical Name: Rudbeckia hirta
• Sun Exposure: Partial, full sun
• Soil Type: Clay, loamy, sandy, well-drained
• Soil pH: Acidic, neutral, alkaline
• USDA Zones: 3-9

This daisy-like flower brings cheer to any garden, blooming until the frost. These golden flowers are easy to grow and can handle the heat. They are deer-resistant, but bees like them for their nectar and their centers filled with pollen.

Geranium 'Johnson's Blue'

• Botanical Name: Geranium 'Johnson's Blue'
• Sun Exposure: Partial, full sun
• Soil Type: Moist, well-drained
• Soil pH: Acidic, neutral, alkaline
• USDA Zones: 4-8

Drought-tolerant and resistant to disease, this perennial, also called cranesbill, attracts bees with deep blue flowers. It makes a lively border. Expect a colorful show from late spring through fall.

Snapdragon

• Botanical Name: Antirrhinum majus
• Sun Exposure: Partial, full sun
• Soil Type: Moist, well-drained
• Soil pH: Slightly acidic, neutral
• USDA Zones: 7-11

Bumblebees are drawn to snapdragons for their scent. Bees open the closed flowers to access the nectar. Snapdragons are a good choice for the spring or fall garden and are a source of food for bees during those cooler months. Give the plants plenty of sun and rich soil.