Should I plant wildflowers to attract and support bees?
Question:
I have a property with some woods on it, which I think was logged back in the day. I’ve seen a few bees around and was wondering if it was wise to spread some native wildflowers around the area or would that be disruptive and give them an unfair advantage?
Additionally, how far away does a flower need to be before it isn’t native anymore? In other words, do I need to collect seeds from flowers I find in the surrounding woods or would flowers from maybe coastal or northern Maine be considered native?
Answer:
Thank you very much for thinking about the bees!
To answer your specific questions, 1) planting wildflowers is a fantastic way to attract and support bee populations, and you needn’t worry about negatively influencing competition by planting pollinator plants, and 2) we typically considering a plant native if it is native anywhere in Maine (there will be the occasional plant native to one part that might not thrive in another, but this shouldn’t be a huge issue for you).
Please take a look at our UMaine Cooperative Extension Plants for Pollinator Gardens page for suggestions on what kinds of flowers would be beneficial. You can also look at the State of Maine’s Yardscape page for pollinators for fantastic resources and lists of plants, as well as the Wild Seed Project’s “Where to Buy Native Plants” tool (the Wild Seed Project also sells native wildflower mixes, if that’s more convenient). If you are interested in collecting seed yourself, the Univ of MD Extension has a nice information page here–obviously, their native plants are somewhat different from ours, but the principles of seed collecting are the same.
Once you’re farther along in the project, you might even consider pollinator garden certification if it’s something that interests you… and even if you don’t there is a ton of great information on the topic on that series of pages.
Happy gardening.