Plants for Year-round Bee Forage

Annuals, Perennials, Shrubs and Trees for Pollinators

Annuals
Some flowers may look pretty but contain no nectar. These do!
Zinnias – great for all pollinators Salvia Mexican sunflower – brings the big butterflies Coleus – late bloom when not much else is blooming Tickseed sunflower Black eye Susan Cosmos – early bloomers Swamp sunflower Verbena Mexican sage Borage Pentas Garden Phlox

Trees
Provide ample food with a small footprint.
American & Chickasaw Plum American and Yupon Holly Native American Yellowwood Basswood Black Locust Black Locust Crabapples Downey Service Berry Eastern Redbud Fringe Tree Gray & Silky Dogwood Maples Oglethorpe Oak Paw Paw Red and Yellow Buckeye Seven Sons Non Native Shag bark Hickory Sourwood Southern Catalpa Sweetbay Magnolia Tulip Poplar White, Pin, Red, Oglethorpe, Chestnut Oaks – Keystone species Witch Hazel

Trees

Provide ample food with a small footprint.

American & Chickasaw Plum
American and Yupon Holly Native
American Yellowwood
Basswood
Black Locust
Black Locust
Crabapples
Downey Service Berry
Eastern Redbud
Fringe Tree
Gray & Silky Dogwood
Maples
Oglethorpe Oak
Paw Paw
Red and Yellow Buckeye
Seven Sons Non Native
Shag bark Hickory
Sourwood
Southern Catalpa
Sweetbay Magnolia
Tulip Poplar
White, Pin, Red, Oglethorpe, Chestnut Oaks – Keystone species
Witch Hazel

Shrubs
Bigger bang for your buck with lots of blooms for a number of different pollinatos. Not all are native, but none are considered invasive.
Abelia American Beautyberry American Strawberry Bush Arrowhead & Blackhaw Viburnum Bottlebrush Buckeye Buttonbush Camelia sasanqua Chokeberry Dwarf hollies Elderberry False Indigo Bush Fothergilla or Witchalder Highbush Blueberry Meadowsweet Native Azalea New Jersey Tea Ninebark Panicled Hydrangea or Hydrangea paniculata Spicebush St. John's Wort Sumac – not a weed to pollinators Sweetshrub Sweet Pepperbush or Summer Sweet Virginia Sweetspire Vitex Weigela White Meadowsweet Winterberry

Shrubs

Bigger bang for your buck with lots of blooms for a number of different pollinatos. Not all are native, but none are considered invasive.

Abelia
American Beautyberry
American Strawberry Bush
Arrowhead & Blackhaw Viburnum
Bottlebrush Buckeye
Buttonbush
Camelia sasanqua
Chokeberry
Dwarf hollies
Elderberry
False Indigo Bush
Fothergilla or Witchalder
Highbush Blueberry
Meadowsweet
Native Azalea
New Jersey Tea
Ninebark
Panicled Hydrangea or Hydrangea paniculata
Spicebush
St. John's Wort
Sumac – not a weed to pollinators
Sweetshrub
Sweet Pepperbush or Summer Sweet
Virginia Sweetspire
Vitex
Weigela
White Meadowsweet
Winterberry

Weeds for Bees
Great for meadows or unmowed areas.
Asiatic hawksbeard Camphor weed Cat’s ear dandelion Clover - instead of grass or as an addition Red Clover Comfrey Common Yarrow Crown beard Dandelions Deadnettle Fetch Fleabane Golden rod –beneficial to bees late in the season Henbit Late boneset Pokeweed Sensitive / Partridge pea Spanish needles Trumpet vine

Perennials Genus	Common Name	Bloom Time	Notes
Agastache	Hummingbird mints, Hyssops	Spring to summer	A variety of colors and species
Asclepias	Milkweed (Butterfly, Whorled, Common, Showy, Swamp)	Great for butterflies including Monarchs	Lovely colors
Coreopsis	Tickseed	Early bloomer	Balls of sunshine early
Coleus	Coleus	If you let it bloom, it will be great for late summer nutrition	Great for color and variety to your garden
Echinacea	Coneflower	Great summer bloomer for all pollinators	Who doesn't love these? Bees sure do!
Eryngium yuccafolium	Rattlesnake master	Summer	Very unique plant and great for our native bees
Eryngium	Sea holly	Summer	Blue globes
Eupatorium	Joe Pye Weeds & Mistflowers	Summer to fall	Great native
Gaillardia	Blanket Flower, Indian Blanket	Summer to fall	Lovely colors and long-lasting blooms
Liatris	Blazing stars, Glowsticks, and Gayfeathers	Summer	Adds height and color
Monarda	Beebalm - huge selection of colors, heights and bloom	Summer to fall	Great for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds
Nepeta	Catnips, Catmint	Summer to summer	Bountiful blooms
Passiflora incarnata	Passion flower - Maypops	Summer to winter	Host plant for the Gulf Fritilary
Pycnanthemum flexuosum	Appalachian Mountain Mint	Summer to fall	Love Mountain mints and so do our bees!!
Pycnanthemum incanum	Hoary Mountain Mint	Summer to fall	Love these and so do flower flies!
Pycnanthemum muticum	Short Toothed / Clustered Mountain Mint	Summer to fall	Love it!
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium	Narrowleaf Mountain Mint	Summer to fall	All native to the U.S.
Pycnanthemum verticillatum var. pilosum	Hairy Mountain Mint	Summer to fall	Lovely mint
Pycnanthemum virginianum	American Mountain Mint	Summer to fall	Another one bees love
Ratibida pinnata	Prairie Coneflower	Summer to fall	You will love seeing all the native bees this one attracts
Rudbeckia	Black Eyed Susans, Golsturm	Summer to fall	Great for our native bees
Salvia x sylvestris	May Night	Spring to fall	Deep purple flowers attract a host of native bees early
Salvia greggii	Autumn sage	Spring to fall	Ruby red flowers great for hummingbirds
Silphium	Rosinweeds	Yellow daisy-like late summer to fall	Lovely native
Silphium perfoliatum	Cup flower	Yellow daisy-like late summer to fall	Tall striking plant
Solidago	Goldenrods	Summer to winter	Provides fall pollen
Symphyotrichum	Asters	Late summer to winter	Purple to white
Symphyotrichum carolinianum	Climbing aster	Fall	Late bloomer for our bees
Veronica umbrosa	Georgia Blue - Speedwell	Spring to summer	Lovely blues and purples
Zizia aurea	Golden Alexander	Spring to summer	Adds golden color