My last post covered the use of color in garden design from the perspective of what bees see. While aesthetics are important in any garden, the needs of bees come first at the Haven and other bee gardens. Here are a few examples of color combinations that are attractive to us and provide both pollen and nectar for bees.

Shades of purple throughout the year

As was mentioned in my last post, purple is a color that bees see well. Here are some ideas for shades of purple throughout the year:

Winter: rosemary (nectar), germander (nectar), ceanothus (pollen and nectar), phacelia (pollen and nectar)

Spring:ceanothus (pollen and nectar)

Summer: sages (nectar), Russian sage (nectar), zinnia (pollen and nectar), cosmos (pollen and nectar)

Fall: aster (pollen and nectar), bluebeard (pollen and nectar)

Germander (Teucrium fruticans)

Tansy-leaved phacelia (Phacelia tanecetifolia)

Bloom time of common ceanothus cultivars

Sage 'Purple Ginny' (Salvia coahuilensis 'Purple Ginny')

Aster 'Fanny's' (Symphyotrichum 'Fanny's)

Bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis)

Shades of yellow throughout the year

As a complementary color to purple, yellow is attractive against any of the plants listed above. Some yellow flower choices include:

Winter:bidens (pollen and nectar), blanketflower (pollen and nectar)

Spring:bidens (pollen and nectar), blanketflower (pollen and nectar), lupine (pollen and nectar)

Summer: sage (nectar), sunflower (pollen and nectar)

Fall: sunflower (pollen and nectar)

Bidens 'Sundrop' (Bidens ferulifolia 'Sundrop')

Yellow lupine (Lupinus microcarpus densiflorus)

Sunflower (Helianthus anuus), unknown cultivar

Summer whites

Spring: Santa Barbara daisy(pollen and nectar), buckbrush (pollen and nectar)

Summer: Santa Barbara daisy (pollen and nectar), gaura (pollen), veronica (pollen), coneflower (pollen and nectar), zinnia (pollen and nectar), cosmos (pollen and nectar), California buckwheat (pollen and nectar)

Fall:gaura (pollen), California buckwheat (pollen and nectar)

Santa Barbara daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus)

Gaura (Gaura lindheimeri)

Coneflower 'Pow Wow White' (Echinacea purpurea 'Pow Wow White')

Zinnia (Zinnia elegans)

California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)

Hot colors throughout the year

Winter: California poppy (pollen), Cape balsam (pollen and nectar)

Spring: Cape balsam (pollen and nectar), sage (nectar)

Summer: Cape balsam (pollen and nectar), coneflower (pollen and nectar)

Fall: Cape balsam (pollen and nectar), sage (nectar), sedum (pollen and nectar)

Cape balsam (Bulbine frutescens) and California poppy (Eschscholzia californica; in back of photo)

Coneflower 'Magnus' (Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus')

Sage 'Hot Lips' (Saliva microphylla 'Hot Lips')

Cape balsam and sedum 'Autumn Joy' (Hylotelephium spectabile 'Autumn Joy'; bright pink in back of photo)