Late Season Pollinator Garden: Motherwort and Bees Abound!

[@joanfrellburg4901]

Because of your video back in 2017 about motherwort I decided to let it grow in my yard, and I'm glad. It does attract bees and other insects even though it's a non native. I'm finding myself a big fan of everything in the mint family.

[@kellinomnom]

Perfect timing. I've been looking at getting more pollinator friendly plants. This year I planted mammoth sunflowers and every kind of insect pollinators have loved them. We also have oregano and mint all over that flower for over several weeks.

[@user-oz1pw8jr7s]

Eastern Wa. Started my gardening for pollinators by being inspired by a co-worker. Been 7 years and my back yard gets wilder each year. One of my favorite plants is Pycnanthemum virginianum. The bumbles will stay the night on this as well as the anise hyssop. Both plants in their prime right now. Also have Dark Knight Caryopteris that is just starting to bloom. Thank you for your videos, they also inspire me.

[@karenjones3066]

I have this and love it! I started it from seed a couple of years ago and it's just buzzing with bees. Yes when it gets tall it will flop over if not staked but that's ok. I've gifted it on my Buy Nothing group and donated seed to Master Gardeners Seedy Saturdays!

[@zionjudah]

I also have swamp marigold (Bidens Aristosa) and Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista Fasciculata) that bloom late, are beautiful and the bees love them -they are native to my area.

[@novampires223]

I have motherwort and the bees do love it, I do not like the spiny seed pods! Also noticed that the hover flys lay their eggs on it, found this out when I cut the tops off and put them in a bucket of water for weed water. A few days later there were dozens of white larvae with tails floating on the surface. Felt bad, now I will look for them before dunking.😊

[@foreverwantingpie]

I consider this a weed in my yard and only let a few little spots persist where theyre hard to get at. White snakeroot and goldenrod are late season blooming for me. Interesting to hear your perspective

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

Douglas aster is my fave late season. Grindelia integrifolia is a close 2nd. But Coyote brush too has been a pretty great late season bee plant? I'm pretty newish to gardening so I don't know if this would be a good permaculture shrub... But I had a very dead/barren/arid part of the yard and I planted it there to sort of colonize the space and it's done very well at that with basically no irrigation. I'm at the point now where I have to control the size because it's getting very big and shading things out. I haven't gotten any birds in it yet, and it doesn't attract bumblebees. But honeybees and particularly Mexican grasshopper wasps really like it. Grasshoppers, bush katydids and harvestmen like to hang out inside of it as well. I have a female, the males have pollen and probably attract a lot more types of bees. They might be super weedy in California, in Portland though I have only had it re-seed once (no idea where the father plant is, somewhere in my neighborhood I would guess); probably best to get a male if you can because then it won't re-seed.

[@alexkunnen]

Im thinking about doing a native pollinator meadow in my front yard in an area that has been mulched with arborist chips. Would it be advisable to rake down to the composted layer of chips or all the way down to dirt before seeding?

[@juselenascott6620]

I have thought about becoming a bee keeper but at some native and pollinator workshops I've been to they have said that honey bees carry disease that harms our native bees. I am across the country so maybe this isn't true for you but I was wondering your experience with that since you have hives and plant to bring in native bees. Thank you

[@vickigunnpermaculture1976]

our zinnias and sunflowers are feeding the bees, as well as mints, oregano, and cosmos. I don't think these are native. Our mother wort is almost done.