A garden insectary lures pollinating insects, including honey bees, to nearby food crops. Despite its scientific-sounding name, a garden insectary is as aesthetically pleasing as any other cultivated flowerbed. Such a garden contributes positively to local biodiversity by providing forage and shelter for beneficial insects among a variety of native and exotic plants. Certain herbs especially provide the pollen or nectar that honey bees crave.
Annual borage (Borago officinalis) thrives in poor soil with its deep, anchoring taproot. The starry blue, summer flowers atop its leafy, 2- to 3-foot-high foliage mounds provide nectar for honey bees. Widely adapted perennial oregano (Origanum spp.), related to mint, attracts honey bees with clusters of summer flowers. Mediterranean native sweet marjoram (O. majorana) and Syrian marjoram (O. syriacum) flavor Mediterranean dishes. Mediterranean native Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is available in upright, mounding or trailing forms. Mediterranean native thyme varieties (Thymus spp.) include ground covering and upright types. Sage (Salvia spp.), also in the mint family, includes nearly 900 species from around the world; many, including culinary sage (S. officinalis), attract honey bees.
The California native black sage (S. mellifera), an attractive evergreen shrub, thrives along the coast, its nondescript spring flowers providing bees with nectar. Showy pink oregano (Origanum sipyleum) provides pink cutting flowers among its blue-green leaves. Mediterranean native Lavender (Lavendula spp.) provides nectar for honey bees with its famously fragrant flowers. Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) creates clouds of blue with summer-flowering spires above aromatic, silvery green foliage. Agastache species and hybrids from the U.S. Southwest and Mexico, bloom with summer-flowering spikes of pink, orange, blue, red or purple rising above aromatic foliage.
Traditional medicinal, or apothecary, herbs earn placement in the insectary for both their beauty and value. Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium) flowers in cream, red, pink or yellow, providing pollen for honey bees. A bright-pink flowering wild form grows in California's Channel Islands. Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), in the aster family, is the source of a traditional remedy for colds and flu. Coneflowers serve both pollen and nectar to foraging honey bees. Rosy-purple petals surround pollen-rich centers, creating charming, exaggerated daisy flowers. “Fragrant Angel” flowers fragrantly in white. “White Luster” and “White Swan” display yellow-orange centers.
Native and Exotic Forbs
Native and exotic forbs commonly grow in meadows and prairies. Collections of these broad-leaved herbs attract beneficial and pollinating insects to bordering farmlands. Native California Phacelia plants (Phacelia spp.) provide both pollen and nectar to eager honey bees. California desert bluebells (P. campanularia) bloom in spring with clusters of airy blue flowers. Honey bees find a rich pollen source in California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), the state flower of California. Sunflowers (Helianthus) provide pollen and nectar to bees and seeds for birds and gardeners. Lupines (Lupinus spp.), including several California natives, attract bees with their dramatic flower spikes. Include colorful forbs in the herbal honey bee insectary.
- Sunset Western Garden Book; Kathleen Norris Brenzel, et al.
- University of California Sonoma County Master Gardeners: Falling for Herbs
- Nature Berkeley: Gardening for Bees – Seasonal Recommended Plant Lists
- University of California California Naturalist: The Best of the Best
- Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images