Nice. I am waiting for mine. Where do I email my address? I am using my son's phone. This is his mom. Seems to me you are missing some Marigolds in that mix.
Your BD deliveries were so sweet! One of our lovely local plant biz Incahoots growes some flowers locale in the community Gardens, and I think donates some of those ...
Milkweed was my gateway plant at the beginning of COVID! I got really into supporting Monarchs and moved to indoor gardening. Thank you for mentioning the difference between native and tropical! It matters
I just purchased 28 houseplants of all varieties I do not normally grow. My outside veggie garden is growing. My Butterfly- Hummingbird Garden is in process. Milkweed is growing everywhere for the butterflies. Sunflowers( a row of each, 9 different colors/varieties) covered in bees! Teddy bear, dwarf Incredibles, paquita Colorado, 4-6ft gold, velvet, lemon Queen, pale and burgundy, light to dark sunbursts and 14ft single and multihead gold's! They look wonderful beginning to open and seeing all the varieties swaying in the breeze! Love it.
I live in Hawaii so I have butterflies year round and my plants are always just sticks cause it never has time to establish itself. I'm going to have to cage it or something so it's not naked year round
The absolute best pollinator plants are the Wildflowers that are native to YOUR area. Some of these aren't native to the entirety of the US but it's certainly a great list for your area. :)
Thank you that's a very important point I noticed immediately upon seeing this video before I clicked on it. Then I checked to see if he was addressing this and he did not. Your comment is very crucial and important!
Color is very important. I’ve been gardening for 9 years now. And threw research and experience, blue and purple colors is what will attract bees. Reds and oranges will attract your hummingbirds and butterflies because bees will take all the pollen and nectar, but they can not see red colors so bees and hummingbirds have adapted to understand this, and will aim for red flowers. So happy you mentioned milkweed. What’s super important to note, is that you should 100% plant butterfly host plants, because they will actually attract more butterflies than any flowers would ever. One of my top favorites that seems to attract butterflies, bees, and moths (at night) is Cleome/spiderflowers
Butterflies like mallows as well, marshmallow, mallow zebrina, okra, Sidalcia ... Oh, yes, Borage! And mint! Bumblebees often spend the mint in my mint flowers! And bees love the mint ...
I'm not so sure about this color thing. I have lots of bumble bees in my garden (Sweden) and they surely do land on and eat from red flowers for example red poppies, red roses etc. They don't only rely on their eyes, they also use their scent organs.
I agree as well. After all the fires out west over the last year, creating a pollinator sanctuary is best. I just planted a garden for pollinators in a 24 sq foot area outside of my garden where the public can walk by it along the sidewalk. It’s become a conversation starter with my neighbors. Very refreshing to socialize after this whole lockdown business this past year.
@@zaria5785 love the idea. I have a huge pollinator garden in my backyard near my veggies. I’ve had all sorts of different bees and butterflies and dragonflies. My back yard was just grass and nothing else but an old raised bed that was overtaken by weeds when we first bought it last July. Now it is a thriving ecosystem that will be my project for years to come!
As a new beekeeper, this is super helpful! Other plants I have recorded as great for pollinators are: -Anise Hyssop -Dogsbane/catsbane -lavenders (of course) -snapdragons -thyme+oregano+rosemary -queen annes lace/wild carrot/parsnip (if you get to one before the bees do, you can actually see the nectar glistening on the flowers) -Borage/Vipers Bugloss (makes the best honey in my opinion) -lemon trees -wattle trees Note: I am from NZ, so hopefully I haven't listed any unsuitable for anyone; I did try to do non nz natives
@@thegerblinradio actually, I'd recommend looking at the shop Melbourne Bush Food, they also have a questionnaire to help you find what plants are good for your zone and garden space. Added bonus of all being edible! Otherwise I'd look into hardy herbs like rosemary (tuscan or prostrate are my favs) and any type of thyme (especially creeping carpet types) as the bees love them when they flower. Also look into your native wildflowers for your local area, and sprinkle seeds around wherever you can!
This is my first year growing Purple Tomatillos, and I almost don't care if I get a harvest because it's so pleasing to come near it as the whole bushed-out plant buzzes with bumblebees and other pollinators. It's a song of life with all the flowers and the pollinators it's brought in.
Yes, 100%!!! I put down some kale and radishes last year; no real use for either of the vegetables, so I decided to let them bolt to seed just so I didn't have to buy more. (Heirloom seeds, so hopefully they won't be duds.) 100% worth it just to help out my local microecological zone :)
I have some dragon fruit plants that are growing very long... I don't know what type I have because it has not flowered as yet. Is there any easy way I can identify them?
I was thinking along the same lines while sitting in my garden in the cool dawn this morning. It’s been so hot here (Fresno, CA) that nothing is producing (except some peppers). But, as you said, the bees are buzzing their song and everything is so lush and pretty. That’s satisfaction in and of itself at the moment. Thanks for the positive post.
Same! I planted 2 sad tomatillos in pots on my deck. I saved them from the clearance section of the garden center. They are huge now and covered in bees! I don’t even care if I get tomatillos as long as I can keep watching the bees every morning.
I really enjoyed the video. But I want to say it would be important to mention that the choice of which flowers to plant really depends on your country and area. Local plants are always the better choice, because many animals specialise on the plants native to their region. A lot of people import and many exotic plants look really nice, but are rather invasive in the wrong area and don't feed all those specialised pollinators (a lot of wild bees do in fact only visit a small list of plants, some only visit a single type, so you can have beautiful exotic flowers in your garden that end up feeding nothing and potentially spread and replace the local flora that the pollinators actually rely on.) So, I really enjoyed the video, but I hope everyone knows that instead of taking this as recommendations, depending on where they live it is better treated as inspiration to find beautiful local plants that offer the same benefits :) Lovely though and I have never heard of milkweed before, living in northern Europe, so now I'm gonna go read up on monarch butterflies and then hummingbirds, because oh my god I wish we had those here
I live in jalisco (mexico) as such i do have tropical milkweed since it is my native variety, i didnt know they sold it in the USA, i thought everyone would just sell their local variety.
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Sunflowers are covered in bees. Zinnias are attracting Butterflies. But June bugs are eating my Zinnias. I am attempting to grow a Butterfly- Hummingbird Garden. Perennials being planted. Milkweed grows like grass around here. We have been letting it grow wherever it wants to. We love butterflies and hummingbirds!
@@wildheart5086buy some milky spore. Treat your property 2/3 times a year for 2-3 years. Kills the Japanese Beetle grubs and supposedly lasts 10-20 years❤
Best pollinator plant (shrub) for summer thru fall, I always plant in my garden is Mexican Sunflower. Butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and then yellow chickadees feast on the seeds. Beautiful vibrant orange blooms! Also, Liatris really attracts the honey bees.
Definitely agree on the salvia and agastache for perennials! As far as annuals go, I've been getting a lot of visitors to my sunflowers, bachelor buttons, and buckwheat.
"It's rare to find plants hardy to zone 3." *Cries in equivalent to USDA zone 3a* For real though, I want to recommend bee balm as a great pollinator plant. There are many species native to many parts North America and not only to the bees love them, but they smell amazing too!
Just gave my 10 year old grandson a taste test between bee balm and Agastache flowers - he enjoyed them both! (As do my pollinators) Agastache and Echinacea air also NA natives and Yarrow is circumpolar.
I came here to recommend bee balm as well! lol it's really my best pollinator plant! It brings in the hummingbirds every day, along with hummingbird moths and tons of other pollinators! Plus its super easy to grow and a fast spreading perennial that looks beautiful!
@@1Lightdancer I've come across the local native species of Agastache growing about, but never knew what it was called. This video and your comment led me to the answer. I live in an apartment and garden in a tiny plot in a nearby community garden (damn only having a very shaded north-facing balcony and window!), but I dream of one day having a space to grow a native species garden (along with everything else I want to grow). It's so great that your grandson is getting the opportunity to try and enjoy new plants! Many of my own best childhood memories with my grandmother are of learning from her as I helped her in her huge garden and enjoying the produce
@@jmessenger919 Yes! One of my all time favourite plants both for it's pollinator attracting abilities and just to smell the flowers and leaves every time I pass by. Plus it can be tasty too! Apparently it's a classic with venison, but as someone who mostly eats vegetarian, I personally love it as a herbal tisane or an accent in shortbread cookies.
I started a Pollinator garden this spring and am loving the different butterflies, humming birds and bees that are in it now. Thanks for recommending those plants. I wrote down the ones I don't have yet and will add them next year. I'm in zone 6b/7a so a lot will work in my yard. I've learned a lot from your many videos - THANK YOU!
Some great ideas there Kevin! I find that herbs are often one of the best pollinator magnets. Sage in particular puts on an immense show and seems to draw in all the bees. Anything from the mint family, thyme, rosemary, oregano, chives etc. We get to eat and so do the bugs :)
Your channel is amazing. I used to garden and deliver my plants while I was younger. And met amazing people . I’m 24 now and starting my garden again & this channel is awesome!
5:00 California banned the commercial sale of Tropical Milkweed. In Ventura County they are doing two plant giveaways of Narrow-leaf Milkweed. I am not sure if they are doing this in other parts of the state.
I love Salvia and it loves my garden. Just this morning I saw a humming bird drinking from mine. Mint also attracts a lot of pollinators. I let mine bloom this year and it was fun seeing what came to eat from the flowers.
@@epicgardening There are so many different varieties of Salvia that bloom at different times it’s great! The Hummingbirds really do love them and they’re great to have in the garden. Not only are they pollinators, but they can eat something like 2-3 times their weight in small, annoying insects like misquotes and gnats. Plus, Hummers are just beautiful, fascinating birds! :)
Also edible, so can be used as a spice or medicinal herb. Dried flowers in teabags hung between clothes gives a nice scent and keeps moths away. Gotta love lavender.
I love your videos. I am learning so much from you. I have been gardening for decades. I am binging your videos looking forward to next spring. I live in Chicago. I am a retired teacher. So I am spending most of my time wrapped around my little Homestead. I lost my son to Covid. You remind me so much of him. You look so much like him and act so much like him. It brings me so much joy to watch your videos. You are epic keep doing what you’re doing. 💖
I planted borage (which have blue purple star shaped flowers) this year and I have never had more bees! Plus you can use the leaves to make delicious tea :)
Another great one is borage, which the bees will absolutely work to exhaustion, and it does well in hot, dry areas. And I found out that rabbits really love it :( - so I start mine in wire cages. :)
I just got narrow leaf milkweed. I used to have tropical. If you have any tropical, I read you are supposed to run around and cut any and all tropical milkweed to the ground on 11/1 of every year.
I have started gardening in the last two years (in my 70’s ) I plant my flowers between my veggies and now have then only have started to plant edible flowers
Great tips about having a mix to attract a variety of pollinators. Just learned marigolds attract Japanese beatles which is a good way to save your veggies and efficient to pick them off without chemicals.
Here in Missouri, common milkweed is the native one. I have some I started from seed last year and now have some volunteers. I bought some heliotrope today on your recommendation and oh, it smells so lovely! I’m keeping it near the back door so I can smell it when I go in and out. Thanks so much!
I was so happy to see bumblebee in my cucumber, this is my first garden (raisebed) on my balcony in a big city so I was worry about polinator but they are here! Definitly planting flower when I have a bigger garden.
I planted Scabiosa columbaria "Dwarf pincushion flower" and the Japanica version in my garden and the bumble bees and butterflies loves them so much! They are all over the flowers constantly and can't leave them! I also have woodland sage and Salvia × superba, they go crazy over. Almost every night at dawn one or two bumble bees sleep on the pincushion ones. And also squash, the flowers are amazing because the bumble bees loves to crawl inside the cozy squash flowers during dawn/night. They have direct access to nectar/pollen all night and can keep warm aswell. I have gotten such cute videos and images of the bumble bees in my garden this year
Dill is great for attracting parasitic wasps as well as many other types wasps. Once the dill starts blooming, most caterpillars and bugs seem to disappear. Of course the down side is if you are not a fan of wasps, Dill might not be a great idea. Nothing like looking for a cucumber only to find it is located near a Dill flower covered in bald faced hornets.
Man, the recipients of the flowers were so cool and collected. If Kevin showed up at my door, I would’ve been jumping up and down and squealing in crazy joy, LOL!! You’re #1 on my fave celebs list!! :) Super sweet of you to personally deliver, and this video is awesome - I’m just getting into planting flowers with my veggies, perfect timing as usual!
I planted a perennial pollinator garden next to my vegetable garden five years ago, and I can't believe how it's filled out and also how many little critters are coming to it. If you want to attract lots of honeybees, I have found that Mountain Mint is the BEST thing for that. I'm right on the cusp of Zone 7B/8A and it's a very hardy perennial here. It does spread, as mint does, but holy cow, I've never seen so many honeybees in my life! Joe Pye Weed is also great for Monarchs. It's another good perennial that will spread well, but not completely take over.
Would you guys mind doing a video on your Hummingbird Haven Flower Mix? I’d love to see how best to sow the packet, care, & what the flowers look like.
Another great flower that butterflies and all types of bees flock to later in the summer is autumn joy sedum. At times every bloom bunch on mine will be loaded with a variety of insects and butterflies. It's wonderful! Bee balm (mondaria) is also great.
I bought tropical milkweed at lowes before knowing this :( but I did find online that if you chop it down to 6 inches later in the year it doesnt disrupt the monarchs
The fact that you're almost laying on the ground just to get great shots of the flowers is enough reason for me to love you even more! 😁 Thanks for this video! 💕
This EPIC narrative filled me with inspiration for flowering the existing garden of the property here in The Bluebells of Santa Cruz Ca. I'm door 7, Noel-Heather, Thank you!!!
Thank you!! Please do a detailed herb video, I am having a hard time with oregano, dill, cilantro, chives, parsley, tried from seeds and starters, learning slowly, marjoram and green onions are good but I have to spray a neem/peppermint/dishsoap mixture at least once per week.
This was great! Very glad to hear you mention finding native plants to your area. Our milkweed here up in Toronto, Canada that monarch caterpillars grow up on is very different from your native milk weed. Cool to see how plants have adapted.
Canada is mostly native to large leaf milkweed right? I’ve been raising butterflies for many years now, but it’s very difficult to find something that ISNT tropical milkweed here in zone 9. Tropical milkweed is not ideal...
Hi! Up here in Nor Cal. Plant hollyhock!!! Pollinators LIKE NEVER BEFORE! It’s been an epic pollinator season thus far. 🐝 Also Chinese long noodle beans. The bees & hummingbirds won’t leave the blossoms alone!
I'd say the Pentas is blood red as well. I have lots of pollinator favourites all over. Baskets of annuals, dozens of perennials, flowering veg. I sowed little patches of crimson clover and sweet alyssum here and there. Borage everywhere, I LOVE it! I bought an amazing new coneflower seedling 'Sombrero', it is the most vivid red, it looks surreal. I hope you are visited by sweet bees and happy hummingbirds!
I grew Agastache this year in a container. I learned early it didn’t like wet feet, and nearly killed it. Fortunately the container dried out enough, and it came back happy. I let one clump go to seed, cut it back, and just dropped the seeds back in. In 2 weeks new growth appeared, and I’m enjoying round 2. I’ve got 1 little hummingbird who loves it, and a ton of hover flies. No bees that I’ve seen, but they have plenty other things to enjoy. 😊❤️🌺 EDIT:From what I’ve read, Agastache is a type of hyssop. If so, that’s probably why it smells like anise. 👍🏼
Have you thought about setting up a native bee house? Or do you already own one? I really enjoy having them, and they really boost the amount of pollinators.
Vegetables aren't usually bred to have flowers with excessive nectar or scent, so pollinators aren't usually going to seek out a vegetable plot on its own. As you point out here, they go where they know there's a buffet of offer. Including flowers makes sure they come for the prime nectar special and stick around to also pollinate the squash and beans that are just in the neighborhood. My vegetable garden is definitely improved for having host plants and flowers for pollinators throughout the season. I'm in 7A, so I have 2 kinds of early ornamental cherries, and neighbors' later cherries and pear trees close the gap before my first annual flowers & peas bloom. From then on, I have a mix of ornamental and veg flowers until frost. The purple and gold Echinacea both go like gangbusters from late June to October. I've noticed at least 5 species of native bees in addition to honeybees and other pollinators, and they stay throughout the season. The stems from the butterfly garden (perrenial roots; 4-foot stems die back annually) also make for great straw mulch the next spring. There's always another use for garden material if you're open to looking for it!
I'm glad you mentioned milkweed. I am in Virginia and focus on native ornamental plants. Let me tell you... None of these have anything on mountain mint!!! There is a native mountain mint to California, Pycnanthemum californicum. Look into it. Dedicate a corner of your garden to it. I have a small patch right now... It's taking up about... Maybe a 2x1' section and I have no less than 50 bees and wasps on it at any one moment, but often I'd guess it's closer to 100+!!!
Of the bunch, the agastache is the toppest sheet for pollinators, especially the North American native _foeniculum_ variety. It grows very easily, non-spreading (although self-seeds thus easily controlled), very popular with pollinators, edible, smells good, long monthly flowering period, etc… I must have 20+ growing in soil and pots in my garden right now. A common trick with it is to pinch it 2-3 times before August-September to control its height but you’ll have much more flower spikes. I personally counted 50+ from pinching one plant until Labor Day! 🎊 It doesn’t last long with 2-4 years each but the amount of seeds it produces, you’ll have agastaches for a lifetime! Seriously! So much it can even be grown like an annual! 🤘
LOVED the video. Thanks for teaching about the various flowers you have planted to attract the pollinators. I have a couple of pots of wildflowers, plus a bunch of petunias. I let my spearmint bolt and I’ve never seen the assortment of pollinators coming to partake of the flowers such as carpenter bees, bumbles, honeys, moths, flies, and leafcutters. Absolutely amazing. Now if it would cool down a bit for my tomatoes to start producing again…
Very cool vid! Here in NZ our monarchs eat Swan plants which is a different variety of milkweed with spiky seed pods (sometimes called hairy balls plant 😅) and white flowers. Our favorite pollinator in marigold 😊 definitely trying echinacea this year too ✌
When I was a lad, we used to try to catch the milkweed seeds floating on the breeze because we would make a wish on it. I can't remember the last time I saw one. ... I did see a Monarch butterfly though last week *AND* a firefly and it's been years since I've seen either...My community has a pesticide/herbicide ban in place and this year has started "No Mow May" so that in the early spring after the melt, the insects and wild rabbits have the dandelions available. The 'Flower sheath" is called Calyx iirc. interesting that you can grow Salvia...it's also called the Sage of the Diviners, it can produce short lived but intense hallucinations.
Interesting video and so lovely to see all your different plants which you recommend for pollinators. My little native bees (stingless) really love my basil flowers and my big honey bees like the lavender, I have heliotrope growing and the scent is so lovely. It does smell like cherry vanilla and it is a warm scent very reminiscent of warm milk with vanilla. Your large delphinium was breath-taking! Thank you. Well done!
we have a huge pink echinacea and there is this one butterfly that apparently now basically lives on this plant. Everytime it gets spooked and flutters off it will be back in less than 10 minutes. It's incredibly.
At the start of last year I had the same opinion, if it doesn't produce food then I have no use for it. This year I planted a few pollinators and next year I will have 2 spots with a wide assortment.
Aww love this video, thanks for sharing your extensive knowledge! I especially enjoy that you mention how introducing non native plants can mess with local species! And that you lay in your garden... one day I will also lay in my garden haha.
when i worked in parks and rec we had a park taht we grew only natives. the big native milkweeds for us in missouri was common milkweed and prairie milkweed
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So that's why you asked about birthdays for San Diego subs.. nice 🙌🏽
Omfg u scared me! Haha no.
Nice. I am waiting for mine.
Where do I email my address? I am using my son's phone. This is his mom. Seems to me you are missing some Marigolds in that mix.
Your BD deliveries were so sweet! One of our lovely local plant biz Incahoots growes some flowers locale in the community Gardens, and I think donates some of those ...
You crack me up jumping out from behind the raised bed, and then lying down in the garden to go over each plant 😂 Love it!
LOL you gotta get IN the garden
@@epicgardening become the garden
when he went at the door with the flower he looks like if he want a girl😂 and😊
I fkn lost it 🤣🤣
Lol that was 🤣
Milkweed was my gateway plant at the beginning of COVID! I got really into supporting Monarchs and moved to indoor gardening. Thank you for mentioning the difference between native and tropical! It matters
I just purchased 28 houseplants of all varieties I do not normally grow. My outside veggie garden is growing. My Butterfly- Hummingbird Garden is in process. Milkweed is growing everywhere for the butterflies. Sunflowers( a row of each, 9 different colors/varieties) covered in bees! Teddy bear, dwarf Incredibles, paquita Colorado, 4-6ft gold, velvet, lemon Queen, pale and burgundy, light to dark sunbursts and 14ft single and multihead gold's! They look wonderful beginning to open and seeing all the varieties swaying in the breeze! Love it.
I live in Hawaii so I have butterflies year round and my plants are always just sticks cause it never has time to establish itself. I'm going to have to cage it or something so it's not naked year round
The absolute best pollinator plants are the Wildflowers that are native to YOUR area. Some of these aren't native to the entirety of the US but it's certainly a great list for your area. :)
Thank you that's a very important point I noticed immediately upon seeing this video before I clicked on it. Then I checked to see if he was addressing this and he did not. Your comment is very crucial and important!
Color is very important. I’ve been gardening for 9 years now. And threw research and experience, blue and purple colors is what will attract bees.
Reds and oranges will attract your hummingbirds and butterflies because bees will take all the pollen and nectar, but they can not see red colors so bees and hummingbirds have adapted to understand this, and will aim for red flowers.
So happy you mentioned milkweed. What’s super important to note, is that you should 100% plant butterfly host plants, because they will actually attract more butterflies than any flowers would ever.
One of my top favorites that seems to attract butterflies, bees, and moths (at night) is Cleome/spiderflowers
I have Borage everywhere. The bees adore it.
I'll check out Cleome!
Butterflies like mallows as well, marshmallow, mallow zebrina, okra, Sidalcia ...
Oh, yes, Borage! And mint! Bumblebees often spend the mint in my mint flowers! And bees love the mint ...
I'm not so sure about this color thing. I have lots of bumble bees in my garden (Sweden) and they surely do land on and eat from red flowers for example red poppies, red roses etc. They don't only rely on their eyes, they also use their scent organs.
Cleome is such a fun plant! A little stinky and the leaves look a lot like something else, lol. but they are so cool! The blooms look like fireworks!
Finally!!!! I think planting pollinator plants are super important especially nowadays.
I totally agree!
I agree as well. After all the fires out west over the last year, creating a pollinator sanctuary is best. I just planted a garden for pollinators in a 24 sq foot area outside of my garden where the public can walk by it along the sidewalk. It’s become a conversation starter with my neighbors. Very refreshing to socialize after this whole lockdown business this past year.
@@zaria5785 love the idea. I have a huge pollinator garden in my backyard near my veggies. I’ve had all sorts of different bees and butterflies and dragonflies. My back yard was just grass and nothing else but an old raised bed that was overtaken by weeds when we first bought it last July. Now it is a thriving ecosystem that will be my project for years to come!
As a new beekeeper, this is super helpful!
Other plants I have recorded as great for pollinators are:
-Anise Hyssop
-Dogsbane/catsbane
-lavenders (of course)
-snapdragons
-thyme+oregano+rosemary
-queen annes lace/wild carrot/parsnip (if you get to one before the bees do, you can actually see the nectar glistening on the flowers)
-Borage/Vipers Bugloss (makes the best honey in my opinion)
-lemon trees
-wattle trees
Note:
I am from NZ, so hopefully I haven't listed any unsuitable for anyone; I did try to do non nz natives
I second the anise hyssop. Plus, it makes a delicious, healthy tea. And, queen anne's lace grows wild here in Illinois. Thank you for the post.
I love the taste of Star Thistle honey :)
Do you have any for Queensland? I seem to be in a pollinator dead zone even through spring…
Russian sage is my go to. You can plant it in horrible soil, never water it and it blooms all season long. Its like lavender on steroids.
@@thegerblinradio actually, I'd recommend looking at the shop Melbourne Bush Food, they also have a questionnaire to help you find what plants are good for your zone and garden space. Added bonus of all being edible! Otherwise I'd look into hardy herbs like rosemary (tuscan or prostrate are my favs) and any type of thyme (especially creeping carpet types) as the bees love them when they flower. Also look into your native wildflowers for your local area, and sprinkle seeds around wherever you can!
This is my first year growing Purple Tomatillos, and I almost don't care if I get a harvest because it's so pleasing to come near it as the whole bushed-out plant buzzes with bumblebees and other pollinators. It's a song of life with all the flowers and the pollinators it's brought in.
Yes, 100%!!! I put down some kale and radishes last year; no real use for either of the vegetables, so I decided to let them bolt to seed just so I didn't have to buy more. (Heirloom seeds, so hopefully they won't be duds.) 100% worth it just to help out my local microecological zone :)
That sounds wonderful!
My purple tomatillo seeds just sprouted today :)
I have some dragon fruit plants that are growing very long... I don't know what type I have because it has not flowered as yet. Is there any easy way I can identify them?
I was thinking along the same lines while sitting in my garden in the cool dawn this morning. It’s been so hot here (Fresno, CA) that nothing is producing (except some peppers). But, as you said, the bees are buzzing their song and everything is so lush and pretty. That’s satisfaction in and of itself at the moment. Thanks for the positive post.
Same! I planted 2 sad tomatillos in pots on my deck. I saved them from the clearance section of the garden center. They are huge now and covered in bees! I don’t even care if I get tomatillos as long as I can keep watching the bees every morning.
I really enjoyed the video. But I want to say it would be important to mention that the choice of which flowers to plant really depends on your country and area. Local plants are always the better choice, because many animals specialise on the plants native to their region. A lot of people import and many exotic plants look really nice, but are rather invasive in the wrong area and don't feed all those specialised pollinators (a lot of wild bees do in fact only visit a small list of plants, some only visit a single type, so you can have beautiful exotic flowers in your garden that end up feeding nothing and potentially spread and replace the local flora that the pollinators actually rely on.)
So, I really enjoyed the video, but I hope everyone knows that instead of taking this as recommendations, depending on where they live it is better treated as inspiration to find beautiful local plants that offer the same benefits :) Lovely though and I have never heard of milkweed before, living in northern Europe, so now I'm gonna go read up on monarch butterflies and then hummingbirds, because oh my god I wish we had those here
You were already one of my favorite UA-camrs, but I love that you delivered those flowers to subscribers. That was seriously so sweet of you.
I live in jalisco (mexico) as such i do have tropical milkweed since it is my native variety, i didnt know they sold it in the USA, i thought everyone would just sell their local variety.
Great video on the importance of flowers. I used to think they were a waste of space vs edibles.
Same - glad I changed my mind!
for my garden i buy large bags of seeds to grow wildflowers for the pollinators there is a special mix just for them
Fantastic idea
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I was like you and only grew vegetables, but once I started planting flowers, I couldn't stop. Now I have more flowers than veggies lol
This is right on time! I haven't seen any pollinators in my vegetable garden and I've been trying to figure out how attract more.
Glad to hear!
Sunflowers are covered in bees. Zinnias are attracting Butterflies. But June bugs are eating my Zinnias. I am attempting to grow a Butterfly- Hummingbird Garden. Perennials being planted. Milkweed grows like grass around here. We have been letting it grow wherever it wants to. We love butterflies and hummingbirds!
Basil is a huge one too❤
@@wildheart5086buy some milky spore. Treat your property 2/3 times a year for 2-3 years. Kills the Japanese Beetle grubs and supposedly lasts 10-20 years❤
@@wildheart5086so do I love hummingbirds and butterflies and bees ❤
Thanks!
Best pollinator plant (shrub) for summer thru fall, I always plant in my garden is Mexican Sunflower. Butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and then yellow chickadees feast on the seeds. Beautiful vibrant orange blooms! Also, Liatris really attracts the honey bees.
Definitely agree on the salvia and agastache for perennials! As far as annuals go, I've been getting a lot of visitors to my sunflowers, bachelor buttons, and buckwheat.
"It's rare to find plants hardy to zone 3."
*Cries in equivalent to USDA zone 3a*
For real though, I want to recommend bee balm as a great pollinator plant. There are many species native to many parts North America and not only to the bees love them, but they smell amazing too!
Yes it's so good!
Just gave my 10 year old grandson a taste test between bee balm and Agastache flowers - he enjoyed them both! (As do my pollinators)
Agastache and Echinacea air also NA natives and Yarrow is circumpolar.
I came here to recommend bee balm as well! lol it's really my best pollinator plant! It brings in the hummingbirds every day, along with hummingbird moths and tons of other pollinators! Plus its super easy to grow and a fast spreading perennial that looks beautiful!
@@1Lightdancer I've come across the local native species of Agastache growing about, but never knew what it was called. This video and your comment led me to the answer. I live in an apartment and garden in a tiny plot in a nearby community garden (damn only having a very shaded north-facing balcony and window!), but I dream of one day having a space to grow a native species garden (along with everything else I want to grow). It's so great that your grandson is getting the opportunity to try and enjoy new plants! Many of my own best childhood memories with my grandmother are of learning from her as I helped her in her huge garden and enjoying the produce
@@jmessenger919 Yes! One of my all time favourite plants both for it's pollinator attracting abilities and just to smell the flowers and leaves every time I pass by. Plus it can be tasty too! Apparently it's a classic with venison, but as someone who mostly eats vegetarian, I personally love it as a herbal tisane or an accent in shortbread cookies.
I started a Pollinator garden this spring and am loving the different butterflies, humming birds and bees that are in it now. Thanks for recommending those plants. I wrote down the ones I don't have yet and will add them next year. I'm in zone 6b/7a so a lot will work in my yard. I've learned a lot from your many videos - THANK YOU!
Some you can start from seed it’ll be a lot cheaper ❤
Some great ideas there Kevin! I find that herbs are often one of the best pollinator magnets. Sage in particular puts on an immense show and seems to draw in all the bees. Anything from the mint family, thyme, rosemary, oregano, chives etc. We get to eat and so do the bugs :)
I am growing those all over my garden beds.
Those herbs are my best and easiest pollinator attractors as well.
African Blue Basil attracts Bee's, Butterflies, Hornets or Wasp, and Flies in my garden. I love it.
Have several. Absolute champion plant.
Thai basil too!
Bee's what?
Your channel is amazing. I used to garden and deliver my plants while I was younger. And met amazing people . I’m 24 now and starting my garden again & this channel is awesome!
I planted lavender and the bumblebees and honey bees love it! It’s also the easiest plant I have as far as care goes which is great for me lol
5:00 California banned the commercial sale of Tropical Milkweed. In Ventura County they are doing two plant giveaways of Narrow-leaf Milkweed. I am not sure if they are doing this in other parts of the state.
I love Salvia and it loves my garden. Just this morning I saw a humming bird drinking from mine. Mint also attracts a lot of pollinators. I let mine bloom this year and it was fun seeing what came to eat from the flowers.
I've noticed WAY more hummingbirds in the garden since I started planting salvia as well
@@epicgardening There are so many different varieties of Salvia that bloom at different times it’s great! The Hummingbirds really do love them and they’re great to have in the garden. Not only are they pollinators, but they can eat something like 2-3 times their weight in small, annoying insects like misquotes and gnats. Plus, Hummers are just beautiful, fascinating birds! :)
@@epicgardening Pycnanthemum californicum!!!
Salvia is wonderful.... so many different varieties and the butterflies and bees love it
Yes!! I have two varieties and they tend to flower year round so everyone has something to eat.
Bees love lavender. Smells good and drought tolerant too :)
Also edible, so can be used as a spice or medicinal herb. Dried flowers in teabags hung between clothes gives a nice scent and keeps moths away. Gotta love lavender.
@@eSheeep some people also smoke lavender in herbal smoking mixes
If its a plant you bet some human has dried it and tried smoking it XD
@@donavinnezar Not even limited to plants! 🐸😅
rosemary too!
I love your videos. I am learning so much from you. I have been gardening for decades. I am binging your videos looking forward to next spring. I live in Chicago. I am a retired teacher. So I am spending most of my time wrapped around my little Homestead. I lost my son to Covid. You remind me so much of him. You look so much like him and act so much like him. It brings me so much joy to watch your videos. You are epic keep doing what you’re doing. 💖
Hello Sandra
I planted borage (which have blue purple star shaped flowers) this year and I have never had more bees! Plus you can use the leaves to make delicious tea :)
Planted about 20 seeds and so far only one has sprouted 😢hopefully it will grow well ❤
Flowering perennial herbs are another great choice. Sage chives oregano lavender thyme. They flower early and come back every year.
Another great one is borage, which the bees will absolutely work to exhaustion, and it does well in hot, dry areas. And I found out that rabbits really love it :( - so I start mine in wire cages. :)
I just got narrow leaf milkweed. I used to have tropical. If you have any tropical, I read you are supposed to run around and cut any and all tropical milkweed to the ground on 11/1 of every year.
Pentas are fabulous! They come in reds, pinks, and whites. (Maybe more?) Pentas do very well in containers as well as inground.
I have started gardening in the last two years (in my 70’s ) I plant my flowers between my veggies and now have then only have started to plant edible flowers
I love how you popped up out of nowhere in the beginning! 😄 Good video on these pollinator flowers!
Great tips about having a mix to attract a variety of pollinators. Just learned marigolds attract Japanese beatles which is a good way to save your veggies and efficient to pick them off without chemicals.
Awesome! I didn't know that. Thank you!
My wife and I love this video we are trying to create a pollinator friendly garden and this gives us great ideas
Love that he's lying IN the dirt, totally geeking out on his love of plants.
Plant Daddy doesn't let us down!!! Hahaha
Here in Missouri, common milkweed is the native one. I have some I started from seed last year and now have some volunteers.
I bought some heliotrope today on your recommendation and oh, it smells so lovely! I’m keeping it near the back door so I can smell it when I go in and out.
Thanks so much!
I'm surprised you didn't mention perennial basil. They're so easy to grow, doesn't self-seed, and the bees love them.
Thank you! Super helpful! I don't appreciate having flowers in my garden enough because I'm always like, "Give me fruits and vegetables!!"
I was so happy to see bumblebee in my cucumber, this is my first garden (raisebed) on my balcony in a big city so I was worry about polinator but they are here! Definitly planting flower when I have a bigger garden.
Congratulations, enjoy gardening 🌻🍅🍍
I planted Scabiosa columbaria "Dwarf pincushion flower" and the Japanica version in my garden and the bumble bees and butterflies loves them so much! They are all over the flowers constantly and can't leave them! I also have woodland sage and Salvia × superba, they go crazy over. Almost every night at dawn one or two bumble bees sleep on the pincushion ones.
And also squash, the flowers are amazing because the bumble bees loves to crawl inside the cozy squash flowers during dawn/night. They have direct access to nectar/pollen all night and can keep warm aswell. I have gotten such cute videos and images of the bumble bees in my garden this year
9:55 your spot on with the color, beautiful deep blood red! 💐🐝
Good stuff Kevin! I only have a few of these ready to plant and it looks like I may need to add some of these later this year or next year 👊🏻🌻👊🏻
Dill is great for attracting parasitic wasps as well as many other types wasps. Once the dill starts blooming, most caterpillars and bugs seem to disappear. Of course the down side is if you are not a fan of wasps, Dill might not be a great idea. Nothing like looking for a cucumber only to find it is located near a Dill flower covered in bald faced hornets.
Now that Monarch Butterflies are endangered, make sure to grow extra Narrow Milkweed!
Thank you Kevin for getting down and dirty to show us the best pollinator plants. This is very helpful.
Man, the recipients of the flowers were so cool and collected. If Kevin showed up at my door, I would’ve been jumping up and down and squealing in crazy joy, LOL!! You’re #1 on my fave celebs list!! :) Super sweet of you to personally deliver, and this video is awesome - I’m just getting into planting flowers with my veggies, perfect timing as usual!
I planted a perennial pollinator garden next to my vegetable garden five years ago, and I can't believe how it's filled out and also how many little critters are coming to it. If you want to attract lots of honeybees, I have found that Mountain Mint is the BEST thing for that. I'm right on the cusp of Zone 7B/8A and it's a very hardy perennial here. It does spread, as mint does, but holy cow, I've never seen so many honeybees in my life! Joe Pye Weed is also great for Monarchs. It's another good perennial that will spread well, but not completely take over.
Eleven pollinators - cone flower delphinium tubular allisum blue lobilia mounds. Echinacea. Heliotrope. Milkweed for monarchs. Alyssum. Agasache. Yarrow. Daisy. Pentas. Salvia for Hummingbirds.
Would you guys mind doing a video on your Hummingbird Haven Flower Mix? I’d love to see how best to sow the packet, care, & what the flowers look like.
Another great flower that butterflies and all types of bees flock to later in the summer is autumn joy sedum. At times every bloom bunch on mine will be loaded with a variety of insects and butterflies. It's wonderful! Bee balm (mondaria) is also great.
I bought tropical milkweed at lowes before knowing this :( but I did find online that if you chop it down to 6 inches later in the year it doesnt disrupt the monarchs
The fact that you're almost laying on the ground just to get great shots of the flowers is enough reason for me to love you even more! 😁 Thanks for this video! 💕
This EPIC narrative filled me with inspiration for flowering the existing garden of the property here in The Bluebells of Santa Cruz Ca. I'm door 7, Noel-Heather, Thank you!!!
Thank you!! Please do a detailed herb video, I am having a hard time with oregano, dill, cilantro, chives, parsley, tried from seeds and starters, learning slowly, marjoram and green onions are good but I have to spray a neem/peppermint/dishsoap mixture at least once per week.
Pentas are perennials in zone 9b and warmer. I have beds of them in many colors that flower year round. Bees are always around them.
This was great! Very glad to hear you mention finding native plants to your area. Our milkweed here up in Toronto, Canada that monarch caterpillars grow up on is very different from your native milk weed. Cool to see how plants have adapted.
Canada is mostly native to large leaf milkweed right? I’ve been raising butterflies for many years now, but it’s very difficult to find something that ISNT tropical milkweed here in zone 9. Tropical milkweed is not ideal...
I'll have to look it up!
Hi! Up here in Nor Cal. Plant hollyhock!!! Pollinators LIKE NEVER BEFORE! It’s been an epic pollinator season thus far. 🐝 Also Chinese long noodle beans. The bees & hummingbirds won’t leave the blossoms alone!
I'd say the Pentas is blood red as well. I have lots of pollinator favourites all over. Baskets of annuals, dozens of perennials, flowering veg. I sowed little patches of crimson clover and sweet alyssum here and there. Borage everywhere, I LOVE it! I bought an amazing new coneflower seedling 'Sombrero', it is the most vivid red, it looks surreal. I hope you are visited by sweet bees and happy hummingbirds!
Thank you so much! I’m already planning for my spring garden for next year and this is really helpful.
Thanks for another helpful and informative video! You’ve inspired me to cover my porch with container flowers and vegetables and they’re doing great!
It makes me crack up every time you come out from behind things to start videos 😂 puts a smile on my face!
I grew Agastache this year in a container. I learned early it didn’t like wet feet, and nearly killed it. Fortunately the container dried out enough, and it came back happy. I let one clump go to seed, cut it back, and just dropped the seeds back in. In 2 weeks new growth appeared, and I’m enjoying round 2. I’ve got 1 little hummingbird who loves it, and a ton of hover flies. No bees that I’ve seen, but they have plenty other things to enjoy. 😊❤️🌺 EDIT:From what I’ve read, Agastache is a type of hyssop. If so, that’s probably why it smells like anise. 👍🏼
Have you thought about setting up a native bee house? Or do you already own one? I really enjoy having them, and they really boost the amount of pollinators.
I have two!
Vegetables aren't usually bred to have flowers with excessive nectar or scent, so pollinators aren't usually going to seek out a vegetable plot on its own. As you point out here, they go where they know there's a buffet of offer. Including flowers makes sure they come for the prime nectar special and stick around to also pollinate the squash and beans that are just in the neighborhood.
My vegetable garden is definitely improved for having host plants and flowers for pollinators throughout the season. I'm in 7A, so I have 2 kinds of early ornamental cherries, and neighbors' later cherries and pear trees close the gap before my first annual flowers & peas bloom. From then on, I have a mix of ornamental and veg flowers until frost. The purple and gold Echinacea both go like gangbusters from late June to October. I've noticed at least 5 species of native bees in addition to honeybees and other pollinators, and they stay throughout the season.
The stems from the butterfly garden (perrenial roots; 4-foot stems die back annually) also make for great straw mulch the next spring. There's always another use for garden material if you're open to looking for it!
Fantastic comment and very well said!
I'm glad you mentioned milkweed. I am in Virginia and focus on native ornamental plants. Let me tell you... None of these have anything on mountain mint!!! There is a native mountain mint to California, Pycnanthemum californicum. Look into it. Dedicate a corner of your garden to it. I have a small patch right now... It's taking up about... Maybe a 2x1' section and I have no less than 50 bees and wasps on it at any one moment, but often I'd guess it's closer to 100+!!!
I'm growing some tomatoes and herbs on my balcony. I have marigolds as well. I've been obsessed with them forever and now I'm growing my own
I'm glad you included some native flowers and not just exotic ones 🙂
I love letting my broccoli go to flower for the pollinators. Get a harvest first, then a bunch of beautiful yellow flowers :)
Of the bunch, the agastache is the toppest sheet for pollinators, especially the North American native _foeniculum_ variety.
It grows very easily, non-spreading (although self-seeds thus easily controlled), very popular with pollinators, edible, smells good, long monthly flowering period, etc…
I must have 20+ growing in soil and pots in my garden right now.
A common trick with it is to pinch it 2-3 times before August-September to control its height but you’ll have much more flower spikes. I personally counted 50+ from pinching one plant until Labor Day! 🎊
It doesn’t last long with 2-4 years each but the amount of seeds it produces, you’ll have agastaches for a lifetime! Seriously! So much it can even be grown like an annual!
🤘
LOVED the video. Thanks for teaching about the various flowers you have planted to attract the pollinators. I have a couple of pots of wildflowers, plus a bunch of petunias. I let my spearmint bolt and I’ve never seen the assortment of pollinators coming to partake of the flowers such as carpenter bees, bumbles, honeys, moths, flies, and leafcutters. Absolutely amazing. Now if it would cool down a bit for my tomatoes to start producing again…
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very cool vid! Here in NZ our monarchs eat Swan plants which is a different variety of milkweed with spiky seed pods (sometimes called hairy balls plant 😅) and white flowers. Our favorite pollinator in marigold 😊 definitely trying echinacea this year too ✌
I'm in Auckland, NZ... When's the best time of year to plant marigolds for you? Do you think they make good cut flowers or is the stem too short?
When I was a lad, we used to try to catch the milkweed seeds floating on the breeze because we would make a wish on it. I can't remember the last time I saw one. ... I did see a Monarch butterfly though last week *AND* a firefly and it's been years since I've seen either...My community has a pesticide/herbicide ban in place and this year has started "No Mow May" so that in the early spring after the melt, the insects and wild rabbits have the dandelions available.
The 'Flower sheath" is called Calyx iirc.
interesting that you can grow Salvia...it's also called the Sage of the Diviners, it can produce short lived but intense hallucinations.
What a memory!
If you live where there are bumblebees, they LOVE Sedum especially the reddish ones.
Interesting video and so lovely to see all your different plants which you recommend for pollinators. My little native bees (stingless) really love my basil flowers and my big honey bees like the lavender, I have heliotrope growing and the scent is so lovely. It does smell like cherry vanilla and it is a warm scent very reminiscent of warm milk with vanilla. Your large delphinium was breath-taking! Thank you. Well done!
Thank you Devon! Glad you agree on the heliotrope...such a good smell
Greetings from Calgary, Alberta, Canada from zone 3 and a bit of 4. Delphiniums are in abundance up here- if you are not on a windy. Ridge, hill.
I am 2 week new into learning how to garden. I am in zone 8 in Texas. I started my Herb garden in my APT.
1. Blue lobelia
2. Echinacea
3. Heliotrope
4. Milkweed
5. Alyssum
6. Agastache
7. Yarrow
8. Daisy
9. Pentas
10. Salvia
11. Delphinium
I have been growing purple bee balm and catnip 4 pollinators for the veg garden. Hummingbirds love the bee balm.
Hard to beat bee balm!
We are definitely looking to attract more pollinators. Great video. Thorough. Thank you.
Something the bees seem to love in my garden is catmint!
Borage is pollenator crack. Rudbeckia is also a very popular plant. Zinnias and sunflowers too
Do Borage flowers like heat?
Oh man borage is nuts!
we have a huge pink echinacea and there is this one butterfly that apparently now basically lives on this plant. Everytime it gets spooked and flutters off it will be back in less than 10 minutes. It's incredibly.
Also color blind. A landscaper I know has a “ Landscaping for the colorblind “ article on line I found very interesting.
Thanks for the schooling.
I'll check it!
You popping out from behind the bushes... epic intro my guy!! 😍👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Haha I liked the creative walkout at the beginning! I like your sense of humor in your videos ☺️
Shalom from Pillars & Strategies. Pollinators are the gladiators of the plant world, Essentially dispersal and propagation.
Free labor!
At the start of last year I had the same opinion, if it doesn't produce food then I have no use for it. This year I planted a few pollinators and next year I will have 2 spots with a wide assortment.
Jelous of your zone. Have some different flowers going but I'm going to plant some milkweed, collect some from nearby forest.
Your correct with the Pentis color observation.
I swear every time you post a video it's always something I've been thinking about for the last few days!
Adding cupia to this list!!!!! #1 hummer attracter.
My lavender plants which are pretty large now are always a thriving hub of bees. Also butterflies. Also hummingbirds. It’s crazy.
Aww love this video, thanks for sharing your extensive knowledge! I especially enjoy that you mention how introducing non native plants can mess with local species! And that you lay in your garden... one day I will also lay in my garden haha.
I just want to commend you for all your planting information you provide. Thank you
Love the background music. Perfect for the piece. 😉💜
when i worked in parks and rec we had a park taht we grew only natives. the big native milkweeds for us in missouri was common milkweed and prairie milkweed
Thanks for sharing 🌼.Those bouquets are quite lovely. 💐🌹. Looking forward for more of your videos.