Perennial Herbs - Key for Pollinators

At this time of year, sitting in the garden and watching the varied amount of bees, hover flies, moths, butterflies and beetles is quite amazing.

I wish I knew my bees, but this little one went through each tiny trumpet. Flower clusters are no bigger than a nickel.

Helping them find pollen is key this time of year.

I find the most activity is in the perennial herb boarder.

Most culinary inclined gardeners prevent many herbs from flowering, unless to achieve seed harvesting in the late season. I however, allow many to go to flower and bolt in order to provide bees and other pollinators a chance to gather pollen (much needed now for overwintering preparations).

Don't under-estimate small flowers from herbs. Here is an assortment of perennial herbs that have tiny flowers that attract a lot of pollinator activity:

Lemon Balm

Mint

Spearmint

Summer Savory

 Oregano

Basil

(Although, basil is not usually perennial in my zone (5b), this one self seeds every year)

Onion

 Chives

Sage

 Coriander

With multiple self seeded plantings in a season, this late bloom (albeit tiny flowers) attracts pollinators like crazy.

Please let them bolt and flower. Within 5 minutes of snapping shots, I captured about 4 different pollinators on varied flowers. 'Bee' amazed at what you'll see.

When all the herbs have a few stems that are allowed to flower at once, it's a sheer delight to hear all the buzzing go round.

Stylophorum diphyllum AKA Wood Poppy

This past February, I was privileged to attend a pollinating seminar and native plant talk at the TBG.

Lorraine Johnson (notable author on Native Plants in Ontario) was one of the speakers at the seminar I attended and in her slideshow presentation, she had this plant depicted. I had come across this plant more than once before but knew very little about it. As soon as I saw the photo, I said "Yes!" out loud - delighted to get confirmation to my approach in keeping this "weed" in the garden.

Thankfully, I didn't yank them out last year. Ffffeeew! Lorraine spoke of Wood Poppies as being one of the first flowers in spring which native pollinators need to feed on. I've noticed many solitary bees feeding regularly.

Wood Poppies are a native perennial to southern Ontario, Canada.  Growing incredibly fast and full. In this spot, they have been flowering since the 1st week of May.

I was so pleased we didn't yank them out. They were much smaller and had one flower last year. Where they came from?...still is a mystery. Nonetheless, I am happy to situate them in the shaded part of the garden where they seem to thrive.

Wood Poppies are also known as Celandine Poppies. Flowering for some time now, their buds are just as beautiful as their flower. Hence, the name Poppy - those fuzzy buds are quite sweet.

So grateful to have this addition to the garden. Giving myself a pat on the back and thanking the heavens for dropping them in the garden for us to enjoy!

Having looked up more info at the Canadian Wildlife Federation site, I see they were listed as an endangered plant in 2000.  Here's hoping more will seed and propagate.

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Please note:  See the Imposture Post I made after learning more about the above plant.