# What flower seeds should I buy for my land?



## stefanely (Apr 15, 2016)

Hello everyone,

I have 3 acres, all full sun (no shade). Out of those 3, I would like to plant various kinds of flowers that the bees like on 2 acres. I don’t like plants that are more than 2 feet tall. So up to a foot high, would be perfect. Some can be up to 2 feet if those variety of plants bees really like. But I would prefer to have majority of flowers to be up to a foot in height. 


I have made a list of flowers:



Dandilion 
Medium Red Clover
White Dutch Clover
Alsike Clover (White)
Alfalfa (PF420 variety)


Please, let me know what do you think about the list I made? Also if you have any other suggestions, please let me know. Your input is much appreciated!

Best regards, 

Steffanely


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## Splits51 (Apr 22, 2017)

I ordered a bunch of wildflower mixes from www.americanmeadows.com and seeded about 1 acre then overseeded the rest of my land with white clover.


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## AR1 (Feb 5, 2017)

Throw in some sweet clover. It looks and smells great, and bees love it. It does run taller than you like though, about 4 feet.
Maybe try something from the mustard family too?

By the way, alfalfa will get 3-4 feet high too if it isn't cut.


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## Bill Bru (Apr 23, 2015)

I highly recommend buckwheat. The bees are all over it once it's been blooming for a few days. I got a lot of compliments on the flavor of my honey on my second extraction session which included some buckwheat nectar mingled in with the basswood and white dutch clover. Another plus, I planted a second planting or crop of the buckwheat in August and it also produced a good stand and gave the bees something to work when little else was blooming just prior to goldenrod and aster season.


I tried growing landino white clover but was very disappointed in the blooms per sq. ft. and the lack of interest by the honey bee foragers.


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## MOBeeus (Jun 4, 2017)

Ladino can be great but it needs fairly high PH to produce a lot of nectar. The medium red won't do a lot for Honeybees. I've done a lot of buckwheat and bees love it as well as mustards. I've not planted a lot of bee forage but it's something I'm getting into more and more.


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## Hive Onthehill (Jun 11, 2011)

I have a friend that planted some buckwheat and had great success with it.. not only did the bees love it but the deer and wild turkeys were pretty fond of it as well.. I have a lot of red clover around my property and for whatever reason I've never seen the honey bees work it..


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Something discuss about the red clover flowers are too long that the short tongue of the honey bees cannot
reach the nectar source though the bubbles can. The other clovers the bees can work them especially the white dutch clovers and others.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Birdsfoot trefoil. Skip the red clover unless you want to feed the bumble bees. Sweet clover, both white and yellow. Wild mustard. All of it will get tall, but if you figure out when to mow it, you could keep it all shorter and maybe give the clover some edge over the grass. An early mowing when the grass is about a foot tall and cut it as low as you can (scalp it if you can). The problem is that grass tends to crowd it all out.


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## cervus (May 8, 2016)

Michael Bush said:


> Skip the red clover unless you want to feed the bumble bees.


Crimson clover (_Trifolium incarnatum_), sometimes referred to as red clover, is an exception don't you think?


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

I've bought some crimson clover but not plant them yet. Some will say the honey bees cannot work
those because of the long flowers. Bumble bees will be all over them some claimed. Maybe one day I
can tell you what is the real truth about it. In a dearth situation the honey bees will work them without any other
replacement, I think.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum), sometimes referred to as red clover, is an exception don't you think?

Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) and red clover (Trifolium pratense) are not the same thing. Honey bees work Crimson clover.


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## cervus (May 8, 2016)

Michael Bush said:


> >Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum), sometimes referred to as red clover, is an exception don't you think?
> 
> Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) and red clover (Trifolium pratense) are not the same thing. Honey bees work Crimson clover.


Yes, they do! That was the point I was trying to make. I've heard crimson called red and vice versa. Not the same.


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## Vectorjet (Feb 20, 2015)

Three acres and no shade. Maybe consider a few tree's such as basswood. Will take a few years before they are useful for your bees, but you'll eventually have a little shade and some extra bee forage.


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