June 05, 2018 · By Three Foragers

The Wildflowers You Can Plant To Help The Bees

If you’ve not heard that bee populations are in decline, well, they are. A severe drop in bee numbers wouldn’t only mean less raw honey to go around, but it would also have a severe impact on plants and crops around the world. One in three bites of food we take, is thanks to pollinators like bees. Crops like fruit trees, wheat and corn all rely on pollination to grow.

Thankfully, there are things each and every one of us can do to help. One of those things is to plant wildflowers to provide bees with the pollen and nectar they need. This week is Bees Matter’s National Planting Week. So what better time to think about planting bee-friendly wildflowers in your yard?

Like humans, bees rely on a varied diet from a range of different flowers. There are many flowers you could plant. Plants of different shapes are great too, as each species of bee has a unique tongue length.

Over the last two years, cereal brand, Cheerios have given out free wildflower seed packs which has been met with mixed reaction. The reason some have criticized it is because the same seed mix was provided across Canada, which doesn’t factor in which wildflowers are native to which province. Thankfully, none of the seeds were invasive so are unlikely to cause ongoing damage. By land, Canada is the world’s second largest country so it’s no surprise that different types of flower are better suited to different parts of the country. If however, you would rather plant wildflowers that are native to your province, here’s what you could do.

British Columbia

The most populated parts of British Columbia have a very different climate to the rest of Canada. Warmer winters and slightly cooler summers mean that the native wildflowers here vary from elsewhere in the country. These are some of the best native wildflowers to plant in your B.C. yard:

Yarrow

Jewelweed

Pearly Everlasting

Black Lilly

Beach Pea

Douglas Aster

Pacific Dogwood

Alberta

Mountainous Alberta has cold winters and warm summers. Here are some native wildflowers to consider planting if you are an Alberta resident:

Wild Rose

Wild Yarrow

Wild Bluebell

Castilleja

Hawkweed

Geranium

SASKATCHEWAN

This is where our Three Foragers Bee Co. raw honey is made. Our bees forage from sweet clover, alfalfa and many local wildflowers. These are some of the wildflowers native to Saskatchewan:

MANITOBA

Manitoba’s southern prairies are often dusted with beautiful wildflowers such as:

ONTARIO

Home to some of Canada’s biggest cities, there is plenty of room for people to plant one of the numerous bee-friendly Ontario native wildflowers.

QUEBEC

Canada’s largest province also has a large list of native wildflowers:

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

Those living here, in the second least populated province in Canada, are spoilt for choice on which native wildflowers to plant in their yard to help the bees.