Replacement bee loving plant required

[Beeline]

Hi

Need some advice from those gardeners out there. I have a willow that is falling over in our garden and frankly quite happy to remove it is as it rarely flowers.

I am after a lovely bee bush that is roughly 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5m or slightly bigger and suits a cottage garden. Any ideas would be welcome please.

Thanks.

 

[VEG]

do you get the catkins on it?
Like this

 

[enrico]

Ceanothus... I think the spelling is right. Bright blue flowers. Try and buy the biggest specimen you can afford. The bees go mad over it, looks amazing when in full flower and smells just like honey
E

 

[Hivemaker.]

A gorse bush,bees like them,and they flower over a long period.

 

[Midland Beek]

Get some Japanese Knotweed. I bet it comes really cheap. The bees love it.

But watch it doesn't start growing through the foundations of your house because it might have to be demolished and re-built.

 

[protheroe]

Get some Japanese Knotweed. I bet it comes really cheap. The bees love it.

But watch it doesn't start growing through the foundations of your house because it might have to be demolished and re-built.

what a wonderful idea

 

[Beeline]

do you get the catkins on it?

VEG- it had very little cathkins on it every year so probably male (or was it female ). As I've just redesigned the garden and trying to include as much wildlife forage as possible, it's a bit of a nothing tree.

Enrico - I think you are bang on the money there. Completely forgot about the Ceanothus. But are they frost hardy? Now I know some types are better flowerers than others - any tips?

HM - my wife isn't into prickly plants like Mahonia (relegated to the back garden) so gorse is a non starter I'm afraid.

Thanks all.

MB- ??

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hebe.
Not as big as a willow but if you treat yourself to a specimen size it will be large enough to produce lots of flowers
I have two in the garden about a metre across and the bees love them.

 

[alanf]

Ceanothus vary in flowering period and size potential. I read somewhere there are over 50 varieties on sale in the UK. Ours is lovely at the moment, but it's over quickly and needs a severe cut back every 3 or 4 years to keep it to 3 metres high...

Something with a longish flowering period over the 'june gap' might be an idea. Buddleia gets mentioned in some lists, it's certainly popular with butterflies and has a long flowering period. Down south some of the Abutilon varieties can have long flowering periods.

At the risk of invoking the BBKA, they do have a couple of lists that might have some ideas:

http://www dot bbka dot org dot uk/files/library/bbka_shrubs_for_bees_3-way_1306864579.pdf

http://www dot bbka dot org dot uk/files/library/bbka_trees_for_bees_3-way_1306864371.pdf

 

[DulwichGnome]

I think some of these are for bumble bees but might give you an idea of what is out there,
http://www.englishplants.co.uk/categories.asp?Sector_ID=26

If planting near your hives it might be best to look at the early/late flowering plants to give them a start/finish to the season.

Mike.

 

[Headnavigator]

Ooh, what variety of Hebe is that, Erica, I've never seen one so pretty, would like it too!
I was going to suggest Amelanchier canadensis, but it does only have one flush of flower in the Spring. How about something like that with a long-flowering honeysuckle growing through it? Two for the price of one and very cottagey.

 

[madasafish]

Bee tree is unbeatable...

http://wolfescrossingfarm.com/11.html

I have 5 plants grown from seed.. If I can grow them, anyone can..

 

[Erichalfbee]

Beeline and I have bee tree seedlings from runners.
I tried your method of germinating but got nowhere. I might try planting some seeds from my sis-in-law's tree this autumn and letting them overwinter outside (it worked for the Golden Rain Tree when the fridge didn't)

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ooh, what variety of Hebe is that, Erica, I've never seen one so pretty, would like it too!

Sorry don't know, one came with the house and the other was moved from ma-in-law's house where it had not flowered ever in her memory.
It burst into bloom last year a month after it was planted.

 

[Beeline]

Some great ideas there!!

Perhaps a Buddleia Globosa, although none of the nurseries around me seem to stock it. The area is probably 2m x 2m so could try some combinations. That idea of the interwoven honeysuckle sounds great.

Bee Trees would be ideal but I've already planted a Mountain Ash a few meters away. I'm reserving some of my Bee Trees (compliments of EricA) for another area.

EricA - Looks like your Hebe is the variety with the succulent leaf?

 

[Erichalfbee]

You'll have to show us a plan of the garden
I am moving house and have potted up masses of stuff....have been doing that for a year and have amongst others a seven foot Lime.
We are going to need a tall van for a week to move all the greenery.
My husband stopped pulling his hair out months ago....none left

 

[DulwichGnome]

Some great ideas there!!

Perhaps a Buddleia Globosa, although none of the nurseries around me seem to stock it. The area is probably 2m x 2m so could try some combinations. That idea of the interwoven honeysuckle sounds great.

I have some in my garden if you want cutting send me a pm. Not sure when is a good time to take them mind.

Mike.

 

[MJBee]

I have some in my garden if you want cutting send me a pm. Not sure when is a good time to take them mind.

Mike.

Take cuttings, 4 - 5 inches long with a heel, of half ripe lateral shoots in July ans August; insert the cuttings in equal parts (by volume) peat and sand in a cold frame. Line out the rooted cuttings in nursery rows the following May and transplant to permanent positions in October or the following March.

 

[Skyhook]

Some great ideas there!!

Perhaps a Buddleia Globosa, although none of the nurseries around me seem to stock it. The area is probably 2m x 2m so could try some combinations. That idea of the interwoven honeysuckle sounds great.

Bee Trees would be ideal but I've already planted a Mountain Ash a few meters away. I'm reserving some of my Bee Trees (compliments of EricA) for another area.

EricA - Looks like your Hebe is the variety with the succulent leaf?

Buddleia globosa will get at least 3m x 3m x 3m, and doesn't like being pruned, so beware. Not sure if honey bees use it, most Buddleias have flower tubes that are too long for them.

Ceanothus would be my choice. Also Berberis- I have a B. darwinii in my garden that has been humming with honeys and bumbles for weeks (but prickly).

 

[Easy Beesy]

How about a mallow? Or tall herbaceous like goldenrod or hollyhocks or delphinium ?
Eb