Best Plants to Attract Bees and Beneficial Insects
Attracting bees and other beneficial insects brings diversity to your garden, and helps your crops thrive. Here are some wonderful annuals, perennials and shrubs that are known to draw bees and beneficials to backyards across the country.
Annual Plants
Arroyo Lupine (Lupinus succulentus)
Baby's Breath (Gypsophila elegans)
Bachelor's Buttons (Centaurea cyanus)
Barley (Hordeum vulgare)
Basils (Ocimum basilicum)
Bee Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia)
Bird's Eyes (Gilia tricolor)
Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
Blue Lace Flower (Trachymene coerulea, aka Didiscus
coeruleas)
Borage (Borago officinalis)
Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
California Poppy (Eschscholtzia californica)
Candytuft (Iberis umbellata)
Celery (Apium graveolens)
Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium)
Chinese Houses (Collinsia heterophylla)
Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)
Corn (Zea mays)
Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas)
Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)
Crimson Clover (Trifolium incarnatum)
Dill (Anethum graveolens)
Goldfields (Lasthenia californica)
Gopher Stopper (Melilotus indica)
Johnny Jump-Up (Viola cornuta)
Lobelia (Lobelia erinus)
Meadow Foam (Limnanthes douglasii)
Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia)
Pincushion Flower, aka Sweet Scabious (Scabiosa
atropurpurea)
Rye (Secale cereale)
Signet Marigolds (Tagetes tenuifolia)
Subterranean Clover (Trifolium subterraneum)
Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus)
Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)
Sweet Marjoram (Origanum majorana)
Tidy Tips (Layia platyglossa)
Triticale (X Triticosecale)
White Sweetclover (Trifolium repens)
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Perennial Plants
Angelica (Angelica atropurpurea)
Anise Hyssop (Anastache foeniculum)
Asters (Aster alpinus and A. tartaricus)
Basket of Gold (Aurinia saxatilis)
Blanketflowers (Gaillardia)
Blue Cardinal Flower (Lobelia syphilitica)
Blue Wild Rye (Elymus glaucus)
Bog Rosemary (Andromeda polifolia)
Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
Califonia Lilac (Ceanothus Spp.)
California Brome (Bromus carinatus)
California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)
Canada Anemone (Anemone canadensis)
Carpet Bugleweeds (Ajuga)
Catmints (Nepeta)
Cinquefoils (Potentilla)
Coffeeberry (Rhamnus california)
Comfrey (Symphytum)
Coneflowers (Echinacea)
Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus)
Coreopsis (Coreopsis)
Cowparsnip (Heracleum maximum)
Coyote Brush (Baccharis pilularis)
Creeping Boobialla (Myoporum pavifolium)
Crimson Thyme (Thymus serpyllum coccineus)
Crocus (Crocus)
Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum)
Deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens)
Elderberry (Sambucus mexicana)
Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Fernleaf Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare var. crispum)
Feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium)
Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum)
Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea)
Golden Marguerite (Anthemis tinctoria)
Goldenrod (Solidago)
Green Lace Flower, aka Toothpick Ammi (Ammi visnaga)
Horsemint (Monarda punctata)
Indian Hemp (Apocynum cannabinum)
Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
Korean Mint (Anastache rugosa)
Late Figwort (Scrophularia marilandica)
Lavender Globe Lily (Allium tanguticum)
Lavenders (Lavandula)
Lovage (Levisticum officinale)
Lupines (Lupinus)
Meadow Barley (Hordeum brachyantherum)
Meadowsweet (Spiraea alba)
Milkweeds (Asclepias)
Mints (Mentha)
Missouri Ironweed (Vernonia missurica)
Mountain Mints (Pycnanthemum muticum and P.
virginianum)
Mountain Sandwort (Arenaria montana)
New England Aster (Symphyotrichumnovae-angliae)
Pale Indian Plantain (Cacalia atriplicifolium)
Paleleaf Sunflower (Helianthus strumosus)
Patrinia (Patrinia)
Penstemon (Penstemon hirsutus)
Peonies (Paeonia)
Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa caucasica)
Poppy Mallow (Callirhoe involucrata)
Purple-Needle Grass (Nassella pulchra)
Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota)
Riddell's Goldenrod (Oligoneuron riddellii)
Rocky Mountain Penstemon (Penstemon strictus)
Sand Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata)
Sea Lavender (Limonium latifolium)
Sea Pink (Armeria alliacea)
Shrubby Cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa)
Smooth Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve)
Soapbark Tree (Quillaja saponaria)
St. Catherine's Lace (Eriogonum giganteum)
Stonecrops (Sedum kamtschaticum, S. spurim, S. album)
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Teasel (Dipsacus)
Thrift (Armeria maritima)
Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia)
White Lace Flower, aka Bishop's Weed (Ammi majus)
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
Willow (Salix Spp.)
Wood Betony (Stachys officinalis)
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Yellow Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
Yellow Giant Hyssop (Agastache nepetoides)
Yolo Slender Wheatgrass (Elymus trachycaulus majus)
Trees and Shrubs
Burning Bush (Euonymous)
California Lilac (Ceanothus)
Firethorn (Pyracantha)
Four-Winged Saltbush (Atriplex canescens)
Golden Bells (Forsythia)
Potentilla
Texas Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens)
Willows
Sources to Help You Attract Beneficial Insects
This plant list was compiled from a variety of scientific sources, including the following:
Enhancing Biological Control — Habitat Management to Promote Natural Enemies of Agricultural Pests, edited by Charles H. Pickett and Robert L. Bugg.
A 3-year study of 170 species of ornamental plants by Mohammed Al-Doghairi and Whitney Cranshaw, Ph.D. of Colorado State University.
Beneficial Insects Move from Flowering Plants to Nearby Crops, a peer-reviewed research article by Rachael Freeman Long, Andrew Corbett, Celia Lamb, Chris Reberg-Horton, Jeff Chandler and Michael Stimmann. Published in California Agriculture.
Enhancing Beneficial Insects with Native Plants, a project of the University of Michigan. Research results prepared by Doug Landis, Anna Fiedler, Rufus Isaacs and Julianna Tuell.
Insecta-Flora from Albright Seed Company by Wendy Dager.
