AnimalsLandscape PhotographyNature

To bee or not to bee?

 

The collapse of colonies has prompted many gardeners to adopt bee-friendly landscaping. One of the easiest things you can do is choose flowers for pollinators and plants that provide habitat for nesting and mating.

Below are five options. Can you spot the choice that actually repels bees?

It’s a perennial plant and a wild edible often taken in teas, tinctures and capsules for its healing properties. There are more than 100 varieties of this plant and one of them is the state flower of Nebraska.

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It’s vibrant color and fragrance attract hummingbirds. Blooms can be scarlet, azure, gray-green, purple or pink. The ancients believed it had healing properties and enhanced the memory.

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It produces slender spikes with delicate pink or white flowers. You may find this in the mountains – or in your favorite drink, if you favor mojitos or mint juleps. Southerners use it to flavor sweet tea.

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It is used in recipes around the world but it may remind you of an English garden or fields in Provence. This perennial is valued for its fragrance and it is popular in both wildlife gardens and xeriscape designs.

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Native to Australia, this is one of the most widely planted trees in the world. Oil from the leaves can be used as an insect repellent, an antiseptic or a solvent. This tree grows fast and can be planted to help drain swamps.

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Could you ID all the flora?  In order, they are: goldenrod, salvia, spearmint, lavender and eucalyptus. All of these plants put out the welcome sign to pollinators except spearmint. 

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Tom Sheeter
Tom Sheeter is a Los Angeles based writer and Account Manager at Superstock. He specializes in film and tv licensing and clearance issues.

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