# Mexican clover



## SunnyBee (Oct 21, 2011)

Where can you buy Mexican Clover seed?


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

I searched for it but everything I can find speaks of it as a weed. Not sure any supplier woudl carry the seed if it is considered an nausance.


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## beekeeper120 (Jul 30, 2011)

I see you live in Florida...Take the wife/girlfriend/boyfriend down to the Ft. Lauderdale area...The stuff grows wild all over the place..sides of roads, parks, fields everyplace.

The mexican clover is considered a weed down here . Get a spade with some paper bags you can have all the clover you want for free. Alot of people will even help you harvest it from yards and fields. Once you get it in the ground within a year the whole area will be filled with it.

FYI in South Forida the Mexican Clover just finished and has gone dorment but will be back normally in the beginning of summer. 3 times a year..


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## Maddox65804 (Dec 29, 2011)

Planting non-native plants for bees is simply shooting ourselves in the foot. Ruining the environment the bees need to survive, and thrive - is that what you really want to do!?

There are so many really, really good native plants that the bees love - why would we plant something that we know is not native and re-create the HUGE problems we have with non-native plants AGAIN. We have made this mistake so many times and it is costing us billions of dollars, ruining our water quality and impacting our ability to raise food and animal crops. 

PLEASE LEARN from the mistakes of others and don't follow their example. Planting non-native plants is a short-sighted, fool's errand that will cost all of us, including the bees.

If you have any doubts look at the costs of non-native plants like: Star thistle in the west, melaleuca trees in the everglades, Purple loosestrive on both seaboards, Leafy spurge in the Plains states, Garlic mustard and european honeysuckle in the Midwest. The costs are astronomical both in money spent controlling these species and the loss of food and forage for our livestock.

Please be careful and research whether the species is native before you plant it.


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## SunnyBee (Oct 21, 2011)

Very good point.


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## beekeeper120 (Jul 30, 2011)

I agree about not planting non-native flowers in most cases...I have also seen these flowers up to about/around the Orlando Area..(did not do much driving in other places around central and North Florida ). I dont know if they can grow much further due to the colder winter temps starting around Central Florida, but in South Florida anyway the National Audubon Society and the IFAS 
(Institute of Food and Agricultual Society out of the University of Florida) did an assessment of mexican clover...Each study stated that as of 2007 the plant is "not a problem species"...not to mention they are very pretty and can cover a large area of fields, yards if you want annuals.

Only problem is if you dont contain the flowers in the area you want they can spread pretty fast. I have seen many people in South Florida combat this problem by making a flower bed and keeping a foot border around the flowers to keep them from going where you dont want to. And they bees love them and can fill up a supper pretty fast. Not to mention this honey is very sweet.


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

Will it grow in any other areas?


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## beekeeper120 (Jul 30, 2011)

I am not sure as I live in south florida. I do know they can grow
In the southern states of America. I believe all it
Needs is full sunlight and good water conditions. Do a google/bing search
For it . I know there are several sites that breaks the growing conditions down.

Kinda happy this stuff grows down here . Living 
In zone 10 sucks as I have limited choices regarding wild flowers


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## Mr_Clean (Aug 31, 2013)

It's a weed in my yard...provides ground cover with thousands of flowers. According to a fellow beekeeper, the mexican clover is not a substantial source of nectar. Seems to provide pollen though (bees covered white with pollen).


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## Mperaino (Apr 30, 2016)

Umm...honey bees aren't native to North America either


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## mlanden (Jun 19, 2016)

Mperaino said:


> Umm...honey bees aren't native to North America either


Good point -- too easy to forget.


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## crmauch (Mar 3, 2016)

Mperaino said:


> Umm...honey bees aren't native to North America either


And neither are apples, peaches, plums (mostly), cherries, apricots, wheat, watermelon, cantaloupe, and more I can't think to name.

Can non-natives be a problem? Absolutely!!! I have a yard that proves it. However, I can have problems with natives as well, and there's non-natives I wouldn't want to do without.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Yes, all the nonnative fruit trees and plants and animals and people should go back to Europe. The sooner the better... While I agree we shouldn't bring new nonnative things into an environment because they are unpredictable. The ecology is a different ecology now than it was. It incorporates many non-native species. In fact most of the plants we see here now are not native.


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