Bee Guide July

01 Jul, 2024

Bee-friendly Plants In Flower

Here are some of our top flowering bee-friendly plants instore now:

Hellebores

Also known as 'The Winter’s Rose', hellebores are in bloom and are ready to be planted now. Find a shady spot to plant them in the garden, ideally under a tree or large shrub where it is cooler.

Camellia

These beautiful evergreen shrubs will be smothered in flowers from autumn til spring. Perfect for hedging in both sunny and shadey spots, and the single petaled blooms feed hungry bees in winter. Bees instore favour the Yuletide, Silver column and Setsugekka varieties.

Polyanthus – Instore only

Also known as ‘Cottage Primrose’, polyanthus is a delightful winter annual that fills the garden and containers with bright winter colour, and helps feed bees on warm winter days. Found in our potted colour and punnet seedling sections.

Rosemary

An all-time favourite for bees. Certain rosemary can be seen out in flower now, and is also fantastic to plant in gardens for added privacy as a hedging plant, or used for screening.

Bee-friendly Plants Ready For Planting

Winter is the perfect time to get bee-friendly plants into the ground, as they can get settled in, establish their roots and get off to a flying start in spring.

Citrus

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

Fruit Trees

Fruit trees are instore from mid-July, with plums, nectarines and peaches to be the first to arrive, followed by pears and apples later in August. Make sure to check if your fruit tree is self-fertile, or if you need a pollinating tree. Order yours today instore before you miss out!

Roses

Our brand new season roses are all instore now. Winter is the best time to plant your roses, and if planting for bees, make sure you choose roses with loose blooms or single flowers - check out the patio range for some great varieties.

Strawberries

Strawberries are also in stores and online now. It is best to plant them early in mid-winter the North Island, as they can get their roots established and produce an extended fruit yield for spring and summer. Strawberries also continuously produce flowers throughout this time.

Monthly Bee Tip

Thoughtful and organic gardening can be beneficial to both humans and beneficial insects including ladybugs, praying mantis, birds and bees. Remember when spraying your winter clean-up sprays such as liquid copper, to spray in the evening to avoid harming their garden-friendly insects.


If you are wanting to offer bees food in your garden, consider planting multiple bee-friendly plants that will bloom at different times of the year. For example, plant camellia and hellebores for winter, bluebells, fruit trees and flowering cherries for spring, sunflowers, daisy varieties and borage for summer and echinacea and poppies for autumn.

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