Flowers throughout the year

David Smitley<smitley@msu.edu>, MSU Entomology; Diane Brown, Rebecca Finneran<Finneran@msu.edu> and Erwin Elsner, MSU Extension; Joy Landis, MSU IPM; Paula Shrewsbury, Univ. of MD Entomology; Daniel Herms, The Davey Tree Expert Company, Kent, OH; and Cristi L. Palmer, IR-4 Project-Rutgers - May 01, 2019

The best habitats for bees have flowering plants rich in nectar and pollen throughout the growing season. Survey your yard and garden to see when flowers are abundant and when they are scarce.

Sedum flower. — Blooming sedum. Photo by Diane Brown, MSU Extension.

The best habitats for bees have flowering plants rich in nectar and pollen throughout the growing season. Survey your yard and garden to see when flowers are abundant and when they are scarce. You can then add pollinator-attractive perennials, shrubs and trees to your garden that bloom at times to fill in the gaps and create a continuous flow of nectar and pollen from early spring through late fall.

In the following table, the flower's bloom time is indicated with an X . The type of plant (annual, perennial, bulb or shrub) is indicated following the scientific name. Plant names appearing in bold print are super-attractive to bees.

Planting for a succession of flowers. Bloom time indicated with an “X”.
Plant	Plant type	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov
Eranthus cilicica	Bulb	X	X	X
Helleborus spp.	Perennial	X	X	X
Centaurea cyanus	Perennial			X	X	X	X
Calendula spp.	Annual			X	X	X	X	X
Coreopsis spp.	Perennial			X	X	X	X	X
Rosa rugosa	Shrubs			X	X	X	X	X
Lavandula spp.	Perennial				X	X
Campanula carpatica	Perennial				X	X	X
Centaurea montana	Perennial				X	X	X
Achillea spp.	Perennial				X	X	X	X
Echinacea spp.	Perennial				X	X	X	X
Eryngium spp.	Perennial				X	X	X	X
Oreganum vulgare	Perennial				X	X	X	X
Salvia spp.	Perennial				X	X	X	X
*Borago officinalus*	Annual				X	X	X	X	X
Thymus spp.	Perennial				X	X	X	X	X
Agastache “Black Adder”	Perennial				X	X	X	X	X	X
Astilbe spp.	Perennial					X	X
Echinops ritro	Perennial					X	X
Melissa officinalis	Perennial					X	X
Penstemon spp.	Perennial					X	X	X
Solidago spp.	Perennial					X	X	X
Helenium spp.	Perennial					X	X	X	X
Perovskia atriplicifolia	Perennial					X	X	X	X
Dahlia spp. cv.	Perennial						X	X	X
*Sedum spectabile*	Perennial						X	X	X
Cosmos spp.	Annual						X	X	X	X
Asters spp.	Perennial							X	X	X
Chrysanthemum sp.	Annual/Perennial							X	X	X

Read the next article in this publication series: Biological control and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for protecting pollinators

Or return to the beginning of this publication: How to protect and increase pollinators in your landscape

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).