Plants for Pollinators in New England

American Holly/Christmas Holly - Ilex opaca Aiton

Photo: A SeaBee honey bee working American Holly in Rye, New Hampshire Credit: SeaBee Honey

One of the favorite shrubs that all pollinators like is the Holly. The Holly comes in many different types and is well known for its ornamental value and decorative appearance during the holiday season. This plant is full of pollinators when it bloom and you will see it full of honeybees, solitary bees, and wasps. The Holly will attract so many pollinators that in some cases owners become afraid of going near the plant. The problem is a nice one to have since the plant requires pollinators in order to product the red berries that display later in the season. Please be aware that the berries of the Holly plant are poisonous so make sure children and pets are kept away from the red berries. Attached is the USDA fact sheet on the Holly. Click here to view it.

Apple Blossom

Photo: A SeaBee honey bee working an apple blossom in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire Credit: SeaBee Honey

Our bees work numerous apple orchards in the seacoast of New Hampshire. Our bees also provide pollination at the regions largest orchard where we run the apiary operations. Apple blossoms are a major nectar source for some of our honeys and the honey bees love these blossoms. Honey bees work the blossoms almost immediately when they bloom and will actively collect pollen and nectar during this time period. The trouble with apple blossoms is that they are fleeting and can be impacted by cold or rainy weather. They bloom for a short period and then they are gone. When planting a pollinator habitat we recommend crab apple species that are more hearty and produce more blossoms than your more common food source apple trees.

Aster (New England) - Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

A SeaBee Honey bee collecting pollen New England Aster. Portsmouth, NH. Photo: SeaBee Honey

New England Aster is found throughout the area where we have hives and provides a great late summer source of pollen and nectar for pollinators. It is a great plant for a native pollinator garden and pollinator habitats. We have a lot of it in our pollinator gardens and it is one of the latest blossoms available to pollinators. We have patches of Aster going into November on the Seacoast of New Hampshire.

Autumn Clematis/Sweet Autumn Clematis - Clematis terniflora

A SeaBee Honey bee collecting pollen from sweet autumn clematis. Rye Beach, NH. Photo: SeaBee Honey

Sweet Autumn Clematis is a very late blooming flower in our area. While it can become invasive, it tends to stay in within the confines of the area it is planted. When it is in full bloom it is loaded with pollinators that collect nectar and pollen from its many blossoms. Our honey bees seem to love it when it is in bloom and can be observed working it throughout the day.

Beach plum - rosa rugosa

A Bumble Bee queen works a Beach Plum blossom on Rye Beach, NH.

Bee Balm - Monarda

Photo: A SeaBee honey bee working Bee Balm in Portsmouth, New Hampshire Credit: SeaBee Honey

They don't call it Bee Balm for nothing. Bee Balm is another great perrenial plant that grows well in the tough New England climate. We like to put it together in groups with similar colors and keep the bed well watered and weeded. The Bee Balm flower stays around for a good number of weeks and produces nectar at all times of the day. It is a great source of forage for honey bees, wasps, butterflies, bumble bees, and many other solitary bees. We also see hummingbirds and the hummingbird moth at our gardens each year.

Blueberry

Photo: A SeaBee honey bee working Blueberry blossom. Stratham, New Hampshire Credit: SeaBee Honey

Blueberry blossoms are great native fruit bearing plants that are well suited for our New Hampshire soils. One will see a great amount of blueberry bushes if they walk through any of our forests here in New Hampshire. Wild Blueberry, Low Bush Blueberry and High Bush Blueberry will blossom in the spring and are loaded with native pollinators when they do. Bumble bees are well suited for extracting nectar from the deep blossoms of the blueberry bush since they have larger proboscises than most other pollinators. Honey bees will work these native blossoms but it does require more hives per acre than other more easily accessed fruit blossoms such as apple, cherry, and black berry.

*Cup Plant/Indian Cup -Silphium perfoliatum***

Photo: A metallic bee working a Cup Plant. SeaBee Pollinator Habitat Seacoast New Hampshire Credit: SeaBee Honey

The Cup Plant is a great native flower that we include in all of our pollinator habitats. This plant blooms later in the summer and provides numerous flowers that provide ample amounts of pollen and nectar for pollinators. One of the great things about this plant is its ability to hold water in pockets of the stalk of the plant. We often see our honey bees gathering water from these pockets and they hold water for a good period of time. The plants can be easily divided and transplanted early in the year and they will be one of the larger plants in the habitat since they can grow upwards to 10 feet in height.

Dandelion-Taraxacum

A SeaBee Honey bee working a Dandelion blossom in Lee, NH. Credit: SeaBee Honey

Dandelion is a common plant found throughout our region and is large forage plant for pollinators early in the spring. It is a robust plant that can tolerate the cold and grows very quickly. Most people are familiar with it and consider it to be a weed but many people see this plant as a herb. Historically, Dandelion has been used to make medicines using all parts of the plants. It is a major nectar and pollen source for honey bees and the honey from dandelion nectar has a slightly bitter flavor and crystallized very quickly.

GerberA Daisy-Gerbera

A Bumble Bee camping out on a Gerber Daisy in the late fall. Portsmouth, NH

Gerbera Daisy is a great plant to add color to your garden, provide cut flowers, and attract pollinators. We often see this flower being worked by honey bees and native pollinators throughout the season. Blossoms occur from mid-summer to well into the Fall. Like Sunflowers, this plant seems to be a preferred home for wayward bumble bees late in the season when their hives have dispersed. In many cases, that bumble bee camping out is a queen bee just getting some late season nutrition and shelter prior to finding a burrow to hibernate in for the winter.

Golden Rod-Solidago

Photo: A SeaBee honey bee working a Golden Rod plant for nectar. Portsmouth, New Hampshire Credit: SeaBee Honey

Golden Rod is found throughout our region and was a plant that early explorers like Champlain mentioned in the journals that recorded their explorations of coastal New England. This plant does very well in our soils and is found in many of our apiaries. The nectar and pollen are a large part of the late summer and fall diet of many of our pollinators. The plant is one of the last blossoming plants available in the fall and produces a dark and earthy honey. This plant is a great addition to pollinator habitats but can take over smaller pollinator habitats.

Lavender

Photo: A SeaBee honey bee working a Lavender blossom in Rye, New Hampshire Credit: SeaBee Honey

Lavender is one of our favorite blossoms for its fragrant smell and beautiful flowers. This flower is attractive to a number of pollinators and will be worked by honey bees but we find that our bees are more attracted to other flowers blooming at the same time. We have experimented with different types of Lavender plants and the bees seem to flirt with the plant but in the end work more attractive blossoms that are likely easier to work. The one bee we do see working this blossom on a regular basis is the bumble bee.

lowbush blueberry

Panicled Aster -Symphyotrichum lanceolatum

Milkweed - Asclepias

Photo: A SeaBee honey bee collecting nectar from a Milkweed blossom at Rye Harbor, New Hampshire Credit: SeaBee Honey

Milkweed fields used to be plentiful in the seacoast of New Hampshire, There was a large one on Hemp Hill in Hampton, New Hampshire and it was always full of monarch butterflies back in the day. Milkweed is critical to the Monarch butterfly, but it is also worked by other pollinators. Our honey bees love this plant, and they are always working it when it is in bloom. We have included milkweed in many of the pollinator habitats we have set up and it easy to reestablish. If you are putting it into a smaller garden or pollinator habitat, you must stay on top of it or it can take over a garden in a few short years.

Mint- Mentha

A SeaBee honey bee working a mint blossom in our Rye, NH apiary.

Another late summer blossom that is loaded with pollinators is our mint garden which is made up of traditional spearmint plants. These plants are robust and spread very quickly so they should be in a contained space. We find mint popping up in our other beds since it can spread via its root system. They are easy to pull up and maintain as long as you are keeping up with your garden bed maintenance. Our mint starts to blossom at the end of the summer and will last well into fall as long a we don't have a hard freeze. It is also loaded with pollinators that work the plant for both the nectar and pollen.

Nippon Daisy - Nipponanthemum nipponicum

Photo: A SeaBee honey bee collecting pollen from a Nippon Daisy in North Hampton, NH. Credit: SeaBee Honey

Nippon Daisy is a late summer aster that is a great late season blossom for pollinators. Our honey bees love it and pull in pollen and nectar from these robust flowers that stand up well to the cool fall weather we find in the seacoast of New England. These flowers seem to like the coastal plain and do well in these seaside locations. This flower is also know as the Montauk Daisy and has become naturalized in Long Island and the New Jersey shore.

Oregon Crabapple-Malus fusca

Red CLover - Trifolium pratense

Photo: A SeaBee honey bee working a Red Clover blossom in Rye, New Hampshire Credit: SeaBee Honey

Red Clover is found in abundant quantities in the New England region and is so common that it is the state flower of Vermont. It is a very hearty plant that acts as a great cover crop and provides nectar and pollen for many pollinators. Bumble bees are the biggest patron to these flower blossoms since they are well suited to work the many deep florets that make up the flower. Some folks mistakenly call this flower purple clover since it has a more purple color when in bloom. Honey bees will work this flower during times of drought since Red Clover will still produce nectar during even the driest times. During the drought of 2020 we noticed a great number of our bees in the Tucker Pollinator Sanctuary working the vast amounts of Red Clover that blooming in the lower field.

SEDUM - Sedinae

A SeaBee honey bee working a Sedum bloom. Rye, New Hampshire Photo Credit: SeaBee Honey

We have Sedum growing throughout our gardens. It is a hearty plant that needs little maintenance and delivers blossoms every mid-summer and early fall in our region of New Hampshire. Native pollinators and honey bees gladly work the blossoms that are plentiful and full of florets. There are numerous types of sedum plant so do your research before you purchase them for your zone. The picture above is of an Autumn Joy Sedum plant.

Wild Carrot - daucus carota

A pasture full of Wild Carrot in Rye, NH. Photo: SeaBee Honey

Wild carrot is a flowering plant found growing in fields in pastures around our region. The plant is often called Queen Anne's Lace and has white florets with a darker floret in the middle. The plant attracts numerous pollinators and it is well visited by our honey bees that gather both pollen and nectar from this plant. This plant isn't recommended to be seeded but if you have it in your lawn it is recommended that you let the pollinators work the bloom before cutting it back.

White Clover - Trifolium repens

Photo: A field of White Clover. Little Boars Head, NH Credit: SeaBee Honey

Everyone should love white clover! This is a crop that pollinators, farmers, livestock, wildlife and the soil will gladly accept. Dutch White Clover is the most common type found in our region and it does well in the challenging weather of New England. We love it because our pollinators thrive on it and it produces ample amounts of nectar and pollen. White Clover is also called "green mulch" because it adds nitrogen to the soil. The plant also thrives in shady areas and in soils where other plants will not grow. We believe every lawn should have clover in it.

Wrinkleleaf goldenrod - solidago rugosa

A SeaBee Honeybee collecting pollen from a Wrinkleleaf Goldenrod blossom.