Late Summer Plants for Honey Bees Allyson Shabel Urban Regional Extension Agent

Pollinator Plant Solutions Long term – establish trees Two years out – establish pollinator meadow Short term (this year) – Annual plants

Trees

Sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum Prefers acidic soils Full sun – part shade Very drought tolerant Flowers in July Very hard to transplant, use container plants

Shrubs

Monk’s Pepper / Chaste Tree Can tolerate alkaline soils Grows to 15 ft tall Purple or white flowers 6”long Flowers June-July

Chaste Tree

Summer Sweet Clethra alnifolia White or pink blooms July–August flowers Prefers moist/wet soil Sun – part shade botanicalgarden.org

Butterfly Bush Blooms June – Sept. Cut off spent flowers Does not like wet soils Full sun Can grow to 10’X8’

Glossy Abelia Abelia grandiflora A ‘last resort’ plant Blooms June – frost Dry, sunny sites 5’x5’

Perennials & Wildflowers

Criteria for Selection Spreads quickly and/or easily Low maintenance Drought tolerant At least a moderate tolerance of poor soils Easy to grow Easily available as seed or plants Blooms late summer/fall

Verbena bonariensis Blooms from late spring up to late fall Very easy to grow from seed feet tall Perennial

Milkweed Asclepias sp. Swamp (A. incarnata) or Common (A. syriaca) Blooms June – August (Common blooms first) Spread quickly by rhizomes Also, Tropical milkweed (A. currivassica) Does well in poor soils Aphids love milkweed

Milkweed

Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea Blooms from mid–June until September Very drought tolerant wildflower Spreads slowly, but once established it is very hardy

Ironweed Vernonia fasciculata Very tough, drought tolerant 4-5 ft tall, with very large bloom heads Blooms August-Sept Seeds are ‘fluffy’ and start easily

Joe Pye Weed Eupatorium maculatum Blooms August-Sept Very large bloom heads Tolerant of wet soils ‘Fluffy’ seeds are easy to propagate 5 ft tall

Swamp Sunflower Helianthus angustifolius Blooms September – Frost 7 ft tall Loaded with blooms Starts easily from seed

Annuals

Annual Sunflowers Must be seeded out every year. Blooms July-Sept Flowers come in many sizes, small flowers bloom for longer timeframe About days to flower Plant dwarf varieties or shelter from strong winds

Scarlet Sage Salvia Salvia coccinea Re-seeds every year No maintenance Up to 24” tall

Partridge Pea Cassia fasciculata Does well in poor, dry soil Bean family – fixes nitrogen Annual, but reseeds itself Seed in March

Buckwheat Summer annual Plant seed April 15 – June 1 Depth ¼ - ½” deep Can flower as soon as 4 weeks after planting Does well in poor soil Prefers well drained soil Not drought tolerant

Buckwheat

Plant Sources Flag plants and collect seed later Divide existing plants Wildflowerfarm.com Seedland.com