Planting flowers to help Bees and Pollinators

The sheer magnitude of what is afflicting bees and other beneficial insects should give us all pause to think "what can I do". Even if all you have is a flower box outside of your window you can still keep our pollinators in mind and help boost the yield of herbs, fruits and vegetables that you may also grow.

A long list of plants is available on the USDA website and can be found here.

I will list some native and common plants that you may already have growing on your property; if so you can encourage them to thrive.

Goldenrod, native to many areas, helps encourage native pollinators.

Goldenrod, native to many areas, helps encourage native pollinators.

Sedum or Stonecrop as its name implies thrives in rocky areas and fairly drought tolerant.

Mexican Sunflower as you can see is great for pollinators, heat and drought resistant it makes for a wonderful color spot in ones yard.

Russian Sage, Filigran another nice color spot that grows large enough suitable for a background plant in a bed. 

Batchelor's button or cornflower, can be a weed but with that said you may not want to discourage it as much as other weeds as it does offer nice color.

Black eyed susan. Another native wildflower that can be encouraged.

Bluebells scorpion weed, grows in many soil types.  Some people may be allergic (rash) to it.