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Stoney Ground Herbs

Beautiful, strong herbs for NZ gardeners and herbalists of all levels

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Pleasing The Bee’s Knees ~ Herbs to Grow for Bees

October 3, 2020 By SandRa Timmins 2 Comments

French lavender for bees

If you hadn’t heard the news, I’m now the very proud, very amateur, owner of a beehive and a humming colony of busy ladies and lazy males! I am on a quick learning curve to say the least (it was an unexpected but very gratefully received surprise gift).

Beehive

In the past I’ve had people buy herbs off me specifically for the bees and I have had a fair idea of what herbs would be best~ but now my interest has double folded and I’m looking at a lot of my plants in a new light!

Herbs for bees, Borage
Borage

A Bit of Bee Backstory…

Bees need pollen and nectar. And depending on what time of year it is and what your hive is trying to achieve, sometimes they’re searching for mainly pollen (pollen is their source of protein and is essential for the feeding of larvae) or nectar (nectar is their carb source, it is converted into honey- honey for them to live on, and stored for the cold months when plants are not flowering). Often when searching for nectar they also inadvertently collect pollen~ pollination.

(Photo by Andreas Trepte, www.avi-fauna.info)

You can see the pollen stashed on their back legs, nectar is transported in their stomach. It is in the warmer months when lots of flowers are producing the most nectar and this is called “the flow”.

Tarata/Lemonwood in flower
Tarata/Lemonwood in flower

Honey bees also need to collect water for the hive and resin (from trees and buds) to make into propolis.

Many of our native trees are excellent for nectar and pollen, a lot of our fruit trees are great for pollen but some don’t have nectar sweet enough for their taste buds (Pear as an example). But as they say (they being me), there’s a bum for every seat and an insect for every flower!

Bee on cherry plum blossom
They smother our cherry plum trees though

In New Zealand we have four different types of bumblebees, 33 ‘native’ bee species and four introduced bee species, one of these being the honey bee.

What Can We Plant for the Bees…

Being a herby person I’m going to focus on herbs that you can grow that the bees will love and appreciate (my idea of herbs is quite broad!). Firstly though, lets acknowledge their amazing visual spectrum which includes the short wavelength ultra violet range which is beyond our mere mortal human eyes. So blues, yellows, light pink/purple and white are more on their radar than reds and oranges. This is quite a cool clip I found on YouTube that shows how bees and butterflies see, I mainly like it for its music!

EARLY SPRING

It’s a pollen a go go in Spring – the Queen has started laying and there are hungry mouths to feed..

A swathe of poppies that bees would love
Brought to you by the letter P… This is a public garden bed in Masterton
  • Poppies; all and any, plant them in large swathes so it’s like a billboard for the bees, advertising food for the needy.
  • Lacy phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia); often used as green crop- let the bees in before you dig it in
  • Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
  • Honesty (Lunaria annua)
  • Borage (Borago officinalis)
  • French lavender (Lavandula dentata)
  • Let any brassicas you’ve got go to seed- the flowers are an excellent source of nectar
  • Let your dandelion flower and if you can stand it, the buttercup too.
Plants for bees, flowering kale
Kale going to seed

SUMMER ~ The flow is on!

Honey bees are native to the Mediterranean and naturally will go gah gah over thymes, rosemary, sage and oregano. There is also (in no particular order)

Herbs for bees, Rosemary
Rosemary
  • Clover
  • Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium)
  • Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
  • Geraniums/Pelargoniums
  • Rue (Ruta graveolens)
  • St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)
  • Mint (Mentha sp.)
  • Catnip (Nepeta cataria)
  • Catmint (Nepeta mussinii)
  • Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea)
  • Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea)
  • Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
  • Chive flowers (Allium schoenoprasum)
  • Borage (Borago officinalis)
  • Dandelion
  • Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
  • Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis)
  • Marjoram (Majorana hortensis)
  • Comfrey
  • Fennel (Foeniculum sp.)
  • Lovage (Levisticum officinale)
  • Self Heal (Prunella vulgaris)
  • English lavender (Lavandula spica)
  • Basil (but if you want basil for your own needs wait until the end of the season)

AUTUMN

A lot of salvias wait until autumn to flower or are flowering well into autumn. Sunflowers. All the herbs that are onto their last hurrah/going to seed before dying (annuals like basil and dill) or going to ground (perennials like chives and echinacea etc).

Salvia farinacea, Victoria blue
Salvia farinacea, Victoria blue

Even if you don’t have hives it’s really important to have flowers in your garden for the bees and all the other pollinators out there. For their health and well being as well as your gardens productivity.

And I really really hope that it goes without saying that the use of pesticides is an absolute no-no and pretty counter-productive if you’re trying to attract pollinators!

Now go to your garden and watch the bees, see what they’re gunning for, watch whether they’re lolling about in pollen or head down supping up the nectar. Wonder at how they see the world and hope that they are as thankful for your garden as you are as thankful for their existence and the food on your table!

Salvia sclarea and bumblebee
Salvia sclarea and bumblebee

References/Recommendations;

  • Practical Beekeeping in New Zealand by Andrew Matheson & Murray Reid
  • A Beekeepers Year by Janet Luke (NZ book)
  • The Bee-Friendly Garden by Kate Frey & Gretchen LeBuhn (US book)
  • If you’re after all plants specifically for the bees, based in Manawatū is Trees for Bees

Filed Under: Animals, Gardening Styles, Herbs in Use Tagged With: bee keeping, bees, gardening for bees, herbs, herbs to grow for bees, list of herbs to grow for bees a seasonal list of herbs for bees, new zealand, plants for bees, what do bees need

Mid Winter Xmas Market

July 14, 2020 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

Happy Matariki everyone! Hope you are doing lovely things with your whānau, remembering loved ones that have crossed over and excited about the new year…

If you’re not sure what Matariki is about, click here to find out more

I’m a little excited about this coming weekend because I’m going to be at a market and I NEVER have done a market at this time of year. The lovely little township of Greytown is currently having having a mid-winter Christmas celebration these school holidays and us regular stall holders at the Greytown Country Market are having a market this Saturday, the 18th July at the Town Hall.

photo courtesy of https://www.greytownvillage.com/

I will have a small selection of herbs (a lot of my herbs go to ground at this time of year) as well as freshly made kokedama for your indoor pleasure. I may even have some Chicken Winter Booster blends available.

kokedama will be for sale at the Greytown Market this Saturday, the 18th July 2020
An example of kokedama

Would absolutely love to see your shining faces, if I don’t know you please introduce yourself! If anyone whom has previously bought a kokedama off me and want it to have a tickle up give me a heads up and I’ll bring some gear with me and I can do it there.

Looking forward to it!

Filed Under: Kokedama, SGH updates, Uncategorized Tagged With: Greytown Festival of Christmas, herbs, herbs for sale, Kokedama, market on 18th july 2020, Matariki

To The Other Side..

September 25, 2017 By SandRa Timmins 2 Comments

Home has been found!  And when I say home I really mean home, for we have found ourselves in a wonderful extraordinary position where we’re going to be renting to own!!

So where in the great wonderous Aotearoa are we going to be… Nowhere else but Eketahuna in the beautiful Wairarapa!

We’re not moving til the 9th November so I’m pleased to say that I still get to go to the Paraparaumu Beach Markets for the first four weeks of the season.

I will be at the Pram markets from the 14th October til the 4th November, possibly the 11th.  From the 18th November you’ll find me at the Wairarapa Farmers Market in Masterton.

So it’s over the Tararua Ranges we go!

Tararua Ranges, Horowhenua

Lovely spring day looking at the Tararua Ranges from Horowhenua

Filed Under: SGH updates Tagged With: for sale, heirloom tomato plants, herbs, Paraparaumu Beach Markets, wairarapa farmers market

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Beautiful, strong herbs
for gardeners
and herbalists
of all levels.

Grown
with passion
and persistence.

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