# Plant recommendations for CT



## Bork (Jul 3, 2015)

Hello bee friends, 

I'm brand new to beekeeping - actually not even keeping yet, just doing a lot of research and preparation. I probably won't even get a hive for a good year or so, but in the meantime I'd like to start planting some good forage. I live in a fairly rural area without a ton of agriculture or home gardening (but definitely some), so would like to help supplement my eventual colony. I already keep some fruit trees and berry bushes, and there's a ton of area around the house that is/will be planted with ornamentals, but that's my wife's domain. 

But what I do have is a shady wooded (mostly maple/hemlock) hillside and surrounding areas that I can work with spousal impunity. I don't care about the aesthetics, I just want a bunch of cheap zero-maintenance bee plants that I can just plant/seed and let them do their thing. There is also a nearby wetland area I can work with. I have no illusions of planting the whole thing like a pasture, but I can easily rake aside leaf litter to work in seed. Some images of the area are attached if it helps. So tl,dr what I'm looking for (but please correct me if I'm off somewhere):


- CT/Zone 6
- Very shade tolerant
- Mix of early/mid/late flowers (unless that's not as important as I'm told)
- Perennials (I don't want to deal with this every year)
- Low/no maintenance
- Cheap
- If they'll spread on their own, great. 
- Won't immediately get chomped by the omnipresent deer.
- Ideally native to Connecticut, but as long as they won't go totally invasive, that's fine.
- Speaking of invasive, I'm also in the process of slowly eradicating a HUGE swath of runaway Pachysandra. An alternative ground cover that's bee friendly would also be great.



Thanks for any input and advice!


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

The Borage is an invasive, full of tiny poking hairs 
maybe the the deers don't like to eat them. But I am not sure.
100 of seeds will drop and regrow every year. It is hard to get rid
of them growing like the grass here. Not sure if you can get rid of them once
established.


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## RobA (Dec 18, 2014)

Shade, wetlands, mid season blooming, native bushes....

Winterberry Ilex verticillata
Buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis
Sweet pepperbush Clethra alnifolia

I planted a bunch of these this spring. Bees supposedly love them. Lots of pollen and nectar.


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## 109651 (Jun 26, 2015)

Creeping Thyme is the best for low ground cover and the honeybees are BUSY working it.


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