How I Bring In Bees + Native Bees In Brisbane
Some of the bees heading to my garden in Brisbane, note the tiny native bee and the honey bee!
One of the biggest upshots I’ve found since I started growing my own veggies and flowers in my backyard is just how much it attracts beautiful bees and butterflies. Last summer I felt like I had every bee, butterfly and pollinator in the neighbourhood in my garden - they were scores of them zooming through all the plants.
I’ve noticed that bees like to get up early and fossick for pollen and nectar and then knock off as the sun is going down, while butterflies love to flit in and out of the garden and rest on the round flowers in particular. They loved my zinnias!
The key to bringing in these beautiful pollinators is really quite simple: grow flowers (or flowering herbs) and they will come. I’ve included the exact flowers that I grow each season in Brisbane below, as they always seem to bring in a crowd.
The colourful flowers I’ve grown to attract bees in Brisbane, including zinnia, dahlias and sunflowers (above)
Bee Flowers Brisbane | Seasonal Guide
I grow all the flowers below from seed. If you’re wondering how to do that, check out my YouTube videos.
Summer: heat loving flowers like zinnia, cosmos, basil, echinacea, dahlias and dandelion.
Autumn: sweet peas, bells of Ireland, chamomile and flowering herbs like coriander and parsley.
Winter: sunflowers work well in Brisbane and bees love them!
Spring: most flowers grow in spring and I love to grow sunflowers, marigolds, cosmos and celosia in Brisbane.
Broccoli flowers bring in all the bees in Brisbane including both native and honey bees
The bees in Brisbane were pretty fond of the colourful flowers I grew in my Brisbane backyard!
Looking for more information? Check out my free 2023 Brisbane Planting Calendar or my Bees + Native Bees Garden Guide.