Create a Buzz in Your Garden:
Bring in the Bees

Give pollinators a reason to come to your garden, and you'll enjoy bigger harvests.

By Marie Hofer, Gardening editor, HGTV.com
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Bees are attracted to the yellow and white of this Profusion series zinnia, as well as its "simple" arrangement that gives it an easy "landing pad" and access to the flowers' nectar and pollen. The Profusion series zinnias hold up well in summer heat.
One third of the fruits and vegetables on our tables — such delectables as almonds and cherries, oranges and melons, cucumbers and cranberries — are the direct result of the work of bees and other pollinators. So in the world of horticulture, there's bad news and there's good news.

The still-mysterious colony collapse disorder that decimated more than one third of the European honey bee colonies in the U.S. has not been solved. For reasons yet to be nailed down, millions of bees have left their hives and never returned.

The good news? The honey bee is but one of thousands of insects that pollinate plants: Many other species of wild bees, plus various wasp species, flies and butterflies, also do part of the job.

And the best news is that you can increase your garden's harvest as well as encourage other pollinators to fill the honey bee gap by planting flowers that give them nectar and pollen sources.

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Scabiosa caucasia 'Butterfly Blue' blooms from spring to fall, taking a breather only when fullblown heat arrives. The flowers are a favorite for both bees and butterflies.
Here's how you can help boost your veggie and fruit yields (and have more colorful flowers to enjoy):

  • Bees need flowers that offer nectar and whose reproductive parts are easy to access. They generally avoid blossoms that are double, preferring "single" flowers that offer an easy landing pad. They also visit tubular flowers.

  • Bees are colors-sensitive; they gravitate toward lavender, blue, purple, yellow and white flowers. They're also attracted by fragrance.

  • Provide pollinator-attracting flowers throughout the growing season. In early spring, flowering fruit trees — whether or not they're edible-fruit-bearing — are a favorite for bees. Spring-blooming bulbs like daffodils and tulips usually don't hold much interest.

  • Plant the bee-attractive flowers in drifts of at least three to four feet in diameter. Bees typically visit only one type of blossom on any given nectar-gathering trip.

  • Avoid the use of pesticides as much as possible. Allowing a natural ecosystem to establish itself in your yard and incorporating a diversity of plants means that pest populations usually get regulated naturally. If you have to spray, use a product specifically labeled for the pest, follow the instructions and wait until after sunset to apply. Avoid using dust products.