Time to visit the Bees N Blooms nursery, open Wednesday-Sunday, 10 AM to 4 PM. If you are looking for a few new plants for your garden or starting work on a larger landscaping project, we’re here to help populate your gardens with pollinator-friendly organic plants! Read on for suggestions!
Plants Providing Late Summer/Fall Bloom for Pollinators
At this time of year, the bees and butterflies are often struggling to find enough food. It only gets worse as the summer goes on, so mid-summer is your last chance to plant late-blooming plants to feed the pollinators this fall.
- California native plants are among the best. We have California Buckwheat, Rosy Buckwheat, Monkey Flower, two native milkweeds (Showy and Narrowleaf), California Fuschia, and Margarita Bop Penstemon.
- Long-blooming perennials like Gaillardia (Blanket Flower), Agastasche, Calamintha, Purple Coneflower, White Swan Coneflower, various colors of Four O’Clocks, Verbena, Figaro Dahlias, and several different salvias, both shrubs and bedding plants.
- Fall-blooming perennials like Maximillian Sunflower and Sedum (Stonecrop)—several varieties.
- Blooming trees: We have Red-Flowering gum trees (Corymbia ficifolia) that produce giant clusters of red or orange flowers in August and September. The bees adore them!
- We also have vining plants loved by hummingbirds, including Cardinal Climber and Pink Jasmine.
- To ensure a spectacular bloom in April, plant an Echium Tower of Jewels!
Lavenders
The bloom is nearly over for most varieties of lavender, so now is a good time to get them in the ground to grow some roots and leaves to support next year’s flowers. We have a good supply of both French and English lavenders now. Photos of most of these varieties with their progression of bloom over the season can be found on our Lavender Bloom Status page.
French Lavenders: French lavenders have long stems, with fragrant light-purple buds that are excellent for sachets. Peak bloom is in late June in Northern California. We have:
- Gros Bleu (dark purple, tapered flower spikes) in 1-gal pots
- Grosso (medium purple) in 1-gal pots
- Phenomenal (medium purple) in 1-gal and 4.5″ pots
- Provence (light purple, large) in 1-gal pots
- Edelweiss (a white lavender) in 1-gal pots
- Hidcote Giant (medium purple, giant!) in 1-gal pots
English Lavenders: English lavenders tend to be more brilliantly colored than the French lavenders, with deep blue-purple blooms for some, and white or pink for others. They tend to be smaller and bloom earlier, peaking in early June in Northern California. They are the best lavenders for culinary purposes. We have:
- Munstead (blue-purple) in 1-gal and 4.5″ pots
- Folgate (blue-purple) in 1-gal and 4.5″ pots
- Hidcote Blue (blue-purple) in 1-gal and 4.5″ pots
- Betty’s Blue (blue-purple) in 1-gal and 4.5″ pots
- Jean Davis (pink) in 1-gal and 4.5″ pots
- Melissa (pink) in 1-gal pots
- Royal Purple in 4.5″ pots
- Royal Velvet in 1-gal pots
- Twickel Purple (light purple, amazing fragrance!) in 1-gal pots
Spanish Lavender: We have Otto Quast Spanish lavender.
Sale Table
Don’t forget to check out the sale table (50% off!) while you’re here for some great deals on bee-friendly annuals and perennials!
Planting Tips
To ensure success when planting mid-summer, have your irrigation installed prior to planting, as we often get some hot days in August and September. Place the dripper right on the root ball of the transplant to ensure a good water supply to the existing roots. Keep a close eye on them for the first couple of weeks after planting, as you may need to supplement with hand watering if you see wilting plants. A quick drink will perk them up and after a couple of weeks, they will have roots out into the surrounding soil.
Good luck with your garden projects!
