# What to plant in Virginia????



## billabell (Apr 19, 2010)

I assume if it is too rough for hay your not planning on tilling the ground.
I am in zone 7a. We have 21 acres and about 1/2 in forest the rest open. we have just let the open ground, except for about 2 acres around the house go natural. We have black locust, tulip poplar, red bud, red maple blackberry, goldenrod, wingstem and golden crown beard taking over that ground and they are all great honey plants. I have also frost seeded white dutch and crimson clover but you have to reseed those about every three years to keep it going. Next year I am going to overseed our small orchard with yellow mustard. Hope this helps. Good luck with your bees.


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## Mike88 (Apr 19, 2017)

Thanks for the list billabell! I do have some "tillable" land i can work. Is overseeding clover/wildflowers/yellow mustard seeds, etc. over grass effective or just a waste of seed and money?


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## billabell (Apr 19, 2010)

I have a friend who has one of those pull behind cutters (I dont know if that is what you call them they are little plug cutters). I mow the area I am going to overseed and then run the plugger over it. But I don't seed it right away. I wait until the time of year that you are going to have freezing at night but enough warming in the day so that there is craking and swelling of the ground and then seed it. Usually Feb-March. Also if you can get it use coated seed for moisture retention.


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## mlanden (Jun 19, 2016)

Hi, Mike. I have a backyard veg garden, and something I've noticed: my bees (and bees-in-general) are crazy about blooms from greens like mustard, collards, turnip, even bok choy! I plant lots in fall to have for winter eating, and in spring, the hardy surviving ones (like mustard and collards) bloom. Bees all over the place, even if they're not on anything else. A good late-winter bloom, too. Just a suggestion (edible greens for you, pollen and -- I guess - nectar for the girls) .....

Mitch


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## Johnnycake (May 13, 2016)

Two words: MOUNTAIN MINT.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thegardendiaries.wordpress.com/2016/03/13/bee-catnip-mountain-mint/amp/


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

If you don't mind the golden rods then plant some early and late blooming for them. The
early blooming type start in mid-August while the late blooming type will be from mid-Oct to
early Dec. Each location will have different bloom dates.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

Sweet clover both white and yellow, one starts to bloom as the other finishes, a very high yield nectar crop. Very tolerant of most soil conditions can be mixed in pasture.

Mountain mint (as john said) is also a good pasture wild flower, it's often the last thing to bloom. Extending the flow and reducing the death.

Brush hogging prevents the wild flowers that are mixed in your pasture from blooming and seeding (such as milk weed, mountain mint, goldenrod, boneset, vetch, sweet clover both white and yellow, chicory, black eyed susan, thistle, blackberries, wild rose and probable hundreds more. 

Might also spray the fescue let the wild flowers take over.


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## billabell (Apr 19, 2010)

Mike88,
I forgot to mention that if you let it go untended as we have done you will also get autumn olive. Some people are opposed to that bush but I do not mind it and it produces a lot of nectar in early spring for your bees. I don't know what part of VA you are in but we have bears and they love autumn olive berries when they ripen in the summer. So if you have bears you need a good electric bear fence. If you have bears you will need the fence for your bees no matter what you plant.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

Mike88 said:


> Hello all. Im a newbee with about 3-5 acres im wanting to dedicate to my honey bees. It is know just fescue and weeds that i bush hog several times a year (too rough for hay). I would really like something extremely low maintenance and perennial. Trees, wildflowers, clover, combination of all? Where to buy seeds? Land prep? Im in zone 6 of Virginia. Any help appreciated. Thanks.


How about basswood trees? There are several types, and they bloom at a slightly different times from eachother. Most come on near the end of the tulip poplar, and some a few weeks after that. It takes a few years, but bees love basswood and very low maintenance.


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