Well the wet is almost here, and have stacks of room to plant more trees or shrubs for my bees.
Just planted a variety of 40 plants but want to concentrate on 2 plants.
Any suggestions what I could plant?
I’ve prepared about 80 holes and get about 500mm rain per year in the great southern.
I’ve thought about some more Hakea but when they need trimming, they’re extremely heavy and tangled up.
Maybe some more bottlebrushes.
Am thinking something with white or purple flowers. Like I said space isn’t an issue. I’m on 30 acres.
Are you on sand? If you don’t want to go endemic a few ideas from Tassie are the Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata) -grow about a metre a year on a free draining sandy type soil. Bees go for them and they flower in late summer/ autumn here. Sort of yellowish flower. The pincushion hakea (perhaps the one you had in mind) which we can grow here comes from over your way and flowers here over winter - the bees go nuts for it. The Ceanothus (Blue Pacific) being a blue flower proves irresistable to the bees and flowers here in spring but is not a native there (or here) but grows ok. The NSW Banksia ericifolia is a fast grower with a big flower. Grows around the 4 metres I think. All things considered however I would research and perhaps go for a endemic plant of some sort to play it safe. 500mm of rain is getting on the light side too.
Also, consider corymbia ficifolia (commonly known as the red flowering gum); you can get white flower varieties. You will get an abundance of honey when they are in flower.
As you mention bottlebrushes you might like this site to help you see the range of flowers (note that calistemons, malaleuca, and kunzea plants can all have a similar appearance - they are all in the Myrtaceae family as far I’m aware…perhaps @busso can clarify??): https://au.pinterest.com/pin/48413764715539551/ (there are more than just bottlebrushes on the page)
What are you planting for? Conservation? Honey/nectar production? Appearance? Other?
We have more of a clay soil.Some spots are loam but all free draining.
Am looking for honey production and food for the bees.
Just want them to have a year round supply.
I have an older book from Lullfitz nursery. An excellent guide to west australian plants but no real info on which ones are good for bees.
Have a good seedling nursery near Albany that has a huge variety.
I seem to have acquired more kudos on this subject than I perhaps deserve. My knowledge stems from a practical aspect rather than a scientific one. We have growing a great many plants species mainly grown from seed. I have found callistemons and kunzias easier to grow than the melaleucas. All are prolific nectar sources, all are brilliant in flower and once established very hardy.
They need regular watering during the summer for the first 3 or 4 years
Think about diversity. With just 2 plant species you run the risk of an insect or disease which will destroy most of your plants.
I had a thing for Melaleuca Nesophilia. It had masses of beautiful purple flowers. The birds , bees butterflies and anything else that flew or crawled loved them. So I planted lots, well over 300 hundred anyway in mass plots. All my dreams came to fruition as they were absolutely spectacular in flower. Then a disease came, the name I can no longer remember or for that matter want to remember, and the end result is that I now have about three scragglly, motheaten excuse’s for a plant with piddly little flowers.
Just saying. Go for diversity.
If you go to your library and get:
Grow What Where published by the Australian Plant Study Group.
Will be of great help.
After a bit more reading been thinking the same.
My block is pretty diverse already and the bees seem healthy.
My understanding is the bees need/want a variety for different reasons. Monoculture seems a bad thing even with bees.
Will just add to what I have.
I must have over 100 varieties of plants now.
When people ask what variety of honey I tell them “whatever they get”
I think the best advice anyone could offer would be to plant native species that grow naturally in your area. Not only will your honeybees like it, but also the native bees & wasps will benefit.
Can’t go past the purple flowers of the Eucalyptus Landsdowneana and the creamy flowers of the Coastal Moorts. Our Landsdowneana is just thick with all types of bird and insects right now. I can’t describe the smell as anything other than dunking your head in a bucket full of berries. Divine! The honey in two of our frames is almost all that and it is YUM YUM YUM. We’ve planted another 20 or so. Agree with diversity and local native, but if you can slip a few of those two species in your bees are going to be happy about it.
Bees really love and make a very good honey from Banksia Sessilis (Prickly Parrot Bush). It flowers late winter to early spring and is easy to grow in sandstone country.
