# pollen source trees



## aafairchild (Mar 16, 2016)

Hi All,

New to this game, but am trying to plant more things to help my bees. I have some wildflowers growing in the yard that I try to keep. I also have a lot of small white clover that escapes the lawnmower blades as it grows close to the ground. I have 2 apple, 1 peach, 1 nectarine tree as well as an oak an ash and numerous varieties of crepe myrtles in different colors. I am running out of room for trees and other plantings are touch and go due to chickens who prefer their own landscaping. Any other suggestions for things to plant? I live in zone 8b near Austin, tx so hot and humid most of the year.

Thanks
Alice


----------



## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

You might check with your county extension service on pollinator plants. Sweet clover might grow well there but it's biennial (takes two years to bloom from seed, usually) but some places consider it an invasive. What is growing within 2.5 miles of your bees? that's the usual foraging range but they can, and do, forage farther when they need to.


----------



## crmauch (Mar 3, 2016)

aafairchild said:


> Hi All,
> New to this game, but am trying to plant more things to help my bees. I have some wildflowers growing in the yard that I try to keep. I also have a lot of small white clover that escapes the lawnmower blades as it grows close to the ground. I have 2 apple, 1 peach, 1 nectarine tree as well as an oak an ash and numerous varieties of crepe myrtles in different colors. I am running out of room for trees and other plantings are touch and go due to chickens who prefer their own landscaping. Any other suggestions for things to plant? I live in zone 8b near Austin, tx so hot and humid most of the year.


I have a section of vegetable garden I didn't want to reuse this year (wanted to rejuvenate it). So I'm planting small sections of crimson clover, and when it get close to frost free, buckwheat, every two weeks. I am also new to this (and I am in zone 6b so my advice may not apply). Before I got the crimson, I bought sweet clover, - but found out it's a biennial (though the store insisted otherwise - I guess some is and some isn't) and it's very, very tall (and since I'm going to be turning this over by hand I thought it would be difficult to work with) so I did an exchange. Both the buckwheat and the clover can become weed problems in their own right if they're not turned over promptly. I'm also going to try to grow Tithonia (Mexican sunflower) and Zinnias as well as quite a few other flowers. 

I don't know if they grow in your area, but I understand that _Tetradium_ (better known as _Evodia_) _daniellii_ (aka Bee Bee tree) and _Oxydendrum arboretum_ (aka Sourwood) are good to have from a bee perspective. They tend to bloom when there are dearth periods. Oxydendrum is native, Tetradium is from Asia and is considered an invasive in some areas.


----------

