There are several great flowers for mason bees out there.
Thinking about getting some of these might overwhelm you.
That’s why we’re lucky to have you here. You’ll be learning some of the Best flowers for mason bees.
The 10 best flowers for mason bees on this list would reduce the strain on selecting which to plant in your garden.
The flowers listed here would help support mason bees in all their activities.
We would also discuss simple things you should consider as you select the best flowers to bring more bees to your yard or garden.
Let’s learn about these 10 best flowers for mason bees, shall we?
List of the top 10 best flowers for mason bees
1. Echinacea Purple (Purple Cone Flower)
You could find this flower in the Utah mountains. There are a lot of mason bees there.
Being an excellent pollen source for mason bees, it is one of the best flowers you can get.
2. Monarda didyma (Beebalm)
This is an extraordinary flower you could plant from the beginning to the middle of summer.
Mason bees enjoy this flower because it has similar colors to the beehive, making them feel at home.
You could try out the M. Didyma and M. Fistulas species.
Both you and your mason bees would enjoy this flower because you could use it to make soothing tummy tea.
Related: Here is an article I wrote on best nectar plant for bees
3. Raspberries
Mason bees enjoy raspberry flowers.
Mason bees love raspberry flowers because they have an excellent pollen source and leaves that mason bees could use to make cells inside their tubes.
The flowers of raspberry don’t have prominent veins, but they are adequately thick for the mason bees to cut and they use for nesting.
A lot of other berry plants have these types of benefits.
As you make your selection, you should choose an everbearing variety.
This allows the plants to serve as food sources in spring for mason bees.
It also serves as food to the bees in summer.
4. Syringa vulgaris (Lilac Bushes)
Being a shrub with low maintenance, mason bees love Lilac Bushes because they have flowers with different colors like white, pink, and purple.
A lot of these varieties start blooming from the 15th of May.
You could mix around different varieties, which allows the blooming time to be between six to eight weeks.
These flowers are sources of nectar to the mason bees, and just like the leaves of raspberries, they have leaves that are perfect for mason bees to create their nests and beehives.
5. Cherry Trees
These cherry trees have beautiful blossoms at the beginning of spring.
These are excellent sources of nectar and pollen.
They are one of the favorite flowers loved by mason bees.
All of its trees blossom around the same time.
This way, mason bees could go pollinating through the trees simultaneously.
The trees available in this category include peach trees, apple trees, and almond trees.
Also read this article on best spring flowers for bees
6. Anise Hyssop
Mason bees love Anise Hyssop because it grows very fast.
It creates beautiful blossoms from the middle of summer straight through to fall.
It is best to deadhead this flower for it to keep blossoming continuously through the year.
This might be stressful, but your mason bees would thank you later.
The continuous blossoms make it better to forget about dry spells, which stress your bees.
Being a convenient plant, it makes it very easy to plant around the back of your garden or your yard. It makes it very simple to transplant whenever you want to.
You can plant this beautiful mason bee-loving flower in walkways.
Watching mason bees pollinate and suck nectar from this flower looks so beautiful.
7. Garden Vegetables
Mason bees love vegetables that are grown in gardens.
These vegetables start blossoming at the ending of spring till summer.
Mason bees love pollinating on any vegetable plant they could lay themselves on.
8. Helianthus annulus (Sunflowers)
These sunflowers are beautiful sources of pollen that lasts till the ending of summer and fall months.
Having blossoms that bloom at endpoints in the season might help extend the amount of time your mason bees would lay more eggs and increase in number.
As a result, you would have a higher number of mason bees when pollination time comes.
Sunflowers serves as one of the best food of mason bees.
9. Pycnanthemum muticum (American Mountain Mint)
American Mountain Mint is a plant that grows all around the Northern Part of America.
It usually grows around the edges of forests, and it doesn’t like a lot of sunlight.
A touch of shade here, a touch of natural sunlight there. It has a very long-lasting bloom all through summer.
Mason bees love it because it serves as a great source of nectar and pollen.
10. Trifolium repens (White Clover)
White clover is one of the best flowers which supports mason bees.
It is an excellent source of food for mason bees. It blooms almost all through the growth season of mason bees.
It could be planted anywhere, and it multiplies.
It might stress you to grow this flower on your lawn, but your mason bees would thank you for growing white clovers because it serves as food and multiples around your garden very fast.
List of things you should consider as you decide which flowers to plant to support mason bees
- It would be best if you chose plants that could be grown in your area
You should check your garden center for flowers that are recommended.
Don’t select plants that are invasive or exotic, like Japanese honey-suckle or purple loosestrife.
These take on more resources that would have been used for other essential things.
It would help if you used flowers that suit your zone correctly.
- Ensure you don’t select plants that are hybridized
Double bloom varieties are a no-no. Get flowers that are “old-fashioned.”
These flowers have more pollen and nectar than new plants.
Mason bees prefer everyday flowers which have enough nectar and pollen.
If you have a flower with little to zero pollen or nectar, your mason bees will avoid these flowers.
They would search for flowers that have a lot of resources that they could either feed on or use for their nest or build their beehives.
- Make use of various flowers to ensure flowers are blooming at each point in time.
Mason bees enjoy sucking the nectar and pollen of flowers that are blossoming.
Select flowers like those which bloom from the beginning of spring to the ending of fall.
If pollination season is more extended (because of high blooming flowers), you would have more mason bees ready for the next pollination season.
Conclusion
The 10 best flowers for mason bees listed above aren’t listed in any specific order.
We hope you get great ideas on how you can plant and plan your yard or garden for your mason bees. You could plant some of them or all of them if you desire.
The most important thing is that, if you plant all of them, you must have one or two of these flowers blooming at every period of the year.
Your mason bees would have all the nectar and pollen they desire.
