Bee Guide April

01 Apr, 2024

Bee-friendly Plants In Flower

Mid-autumn means the weather is starting to get a lot cooler. Certain summer perennials will be doing their last dash before the temperature drops into the single digits.


Check out our top five flowering plants for bees this April:

Lemon

Lemon Meyers flower year-round and are a great source of food for bees any time of the year. It is the perfect time to plant them both in pots (dwarf variety only) or in your garden.

Chives

Still have some chives out in the garden? Let these flower and bees will love you for it. A summer and mid-autumn treat for both honey bees, native NZ bees and bumbles.

Rosemary

Rosemary is also one of those plants that can flower almost all year round. Drought tolerant and hardy, they are also great for screening out the neighbours or as ground cover depending on what type you choose.

Fennel

Letting fennel go to flower is a great way to get bees into your garden. Fennel grows easily from seed and is present in the garden all year round, which is handy when you want to add it to recipes.

Clover

Though known as a weed by many lawn fanatics, clover can provide food for bees when other sources are scarce. Sold in our herb and ‘wild pollination’ ranges, clover is a nitrogen-fixing plant, meaning it is able to contribute nitrogen to neighbouring plants in the soil, and help break up compacted soil with their thick root systems.

Bee-friendly Plants Ready For Planting

Autumn is now the time to get all those late-winter to early-summer flowering plants in the ground. Check out our suggestions over the next few months for future flowering plants. If you can't get instore, look at taking some woody cuttings now, or dividing up bulbs for the coming spring.

Citrus

Lemon Meyers should already be out in flower, but now is a great time to plan out and plant your other citrus trees for both bee and human consumption.

Manuka

Our native New Zealand Leptospermum or ‘tea tree’, known for its healing properties it is also well known for being bee food. Fantastic for dry hills and sunny patches in the garden that doesn't tend to get a lot of water.

Crocus

Plant now for brilliant blooms in early spring - available in stores and online. If you have some already in your garden, divide them up and replant them - creating new patches of these beautiful flowers in your yard or pots. Bees especially love blue crocuses but are happy with yellow, purple and white flowers too.

Yarrow

Sold in our small-herb section, yarrow was introduced to New Zealand as a feed for livestock, but also feeds a large range of pollinators, from butterflies and bees to hoverflies and your normal house fly. Yarrow is drought tolerant and is a must for any small bee-friendly garden.

Monthly Bee Tips

After the latest harsh summer we just had, pest insects are still persistent in autumn. Make sure that you take off flowers that will attract bees on plants that need a good spray, and only spray in the evening to avoid harming them - even when using our recommended organic products.


Keeping a monthly bee-flowering diary can be handy when you are helping to feed bees, you will get used to knowing what is out in flower, and what you might need to continue to help them out!


Bees are attracted to blue flowers, and you might sometimes find that if you wear a blue shirt outside, bumblebees will be attracted to you. Don't be frightened, as they are just checking you out to see if you are a flower, stay still and they will move on after they figure it out.


Having trouble choosing a bee-friendly plant? Talk to one of our staff instore and they will be able to help you with any specific bee-friendly gardening requirements.

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