Native Plant Wildlife Gardening

A lot of effort has gone into the bee garden portion of my backyard habitat. I’ve studied, I’ve planned, I have lists dang it of plants for the best food sources to provide bee friendly blooms all year. I’m obsessed with attracting a feral hive but you know how these things go, the best laid plans of mice and men mean squat to bees.

And flowers bloom when they are ready. My project, which I have titled The Bee Food Source Plan (TBFSP aka The Plan. Grand, aye?), is on paper so I don’t know if anything will actually bloom during the times I have figured. For the next year I will be checking when shrubs flower against The Bee Food Source Plan (TBFSP).

Winter is obviously the most difficult time to provide food source flowers but important for those warm spells when suddenly you see people in shorts, then the next week is freezing. With the shorts comes the bees so I have tried to stretch bloom times into the winter.

And it’s working.

Right now four large Camellia oleifera Winter’s Star are in bloom. It’s a non-native but non-invasive shrub which adds value to my habitat. These where here when I moved in and have been covered with blossoms and buzzing creatures for two months(!). They also provide evergreen coverage for birds and wildlife, along with just looking pretty wow in flower. Their flower is on the wain and should be done in about two weeks.

As the camellia winds down, Groundsel bush Baccharis halimifolia, a native plant which occurs naturally on my property, is in bud and soon to open. I have read that it can be weedy but after closely watching it for two years I haven’t had any problem. Groundsel bush impressed me while in full bloom last November / December with below freezing temperatures. It does indeed provide a profuse volume of unique flowers the bees loved.

note: This shrub or small tree also has some fairly interesting bark and is worth looking into if it isn’t a mad seeder in your area. See Groundsel tree, Eastern Baccharis halimifolia.

Following the Groundsel bush will be Camellia sasanqua Yuletide, Camellia japonica Nuccios Gem and Perl. These too are non-natives but non-invasive and play a part in my backyard habitat scheme. Yultide is a flower I adore and a shrub I have grown before, finding it to be a dependable winter blooming plant even through Georgia ice storms. They were just added this year so are a small size but still covered in buds which should open December / January. I didn’t have luck finding a blooming native shrub (not perennial) for this period but I will keep searching.

Hopefully on warm days when the bees appear I’m going to be ready for them with a friendly environment. Then they will want to come and stay in my yard – if this happens, the whole internet will hear about it. Twice.

If you plant natives for bees and have any thoughts on shrubs for winter food, please leave a comment and share. Let us know your zone as well. I’m still searching for zone 7+ natives to fit this time frame and two food sources are better than depending on one. Thanks! Also see my personal list of Month by Month Native Plants for Bee Food Sources.