A Flower Border for Bees

The little border of flowering annuals I mentioned in my last post has begun to bloom and it’s doing just what I had hoped: providing a little bit of additional nectar and pollen for the pollinators in our garden. You might recall that this was a quick project we put together in spring using materials we had: paper, soil/compost and seeds. It took no time at all, really, and now, just a few months later, we’ve turned what was once grass into a colorful flower border for our bees. I won’t exactly review the technique because I have already written a full tutorial but here is how it transformed over the past few months.

I have to send a shout-out to my husband who wheelbarrowed all the soil to the area for me while I stood there and supervised. This was when I had injured my back so I was hardly able to move! It was fun seeing this space transform and really these last two photos don’t do it any favors. It is such a cheerful, actively buzzing garden in person.

As mentioned, I wanted to just use “things I had” like the compost from an earlier delivery, paper from widening borders in other areas of the garden, fencing and rebar as necessary chicken guards, string to create a support structure and seeds. The only thing I specifically went out and purchased was Plant-Tone fertilizer knowing that the soil here is very nutrient poor. As a matter of fact, I’m off to the Ag store now to get more of the stuff because the entire garden is gobbling it up!

Some of the flowers growing here are: Teddy Bear Sunflowers from Sow True Seed, Borage and Xanthos and Picotee Cosmos from Swallowtail Garden Seeds, Bachelor Buttons from Botanical Interests and Oklahoma Mix Zinnias from Burpee. Yup, just seeds I had lying around. (Sidebar: Is anyone else seed obsessed like me? I can’t walk past seed displays without purchasing something.)

This small border worked out so well I am kicking myself a little bit for not doing two of them side-by-side! But then, when it comes to flowers there’s never enough, right? I look forward to making another border like this as an autumn project and I’m thinking of packing some tulip bulbs for spring in each them to get a jumpstart on the season.

Again, I wish these photos were capturing the charm a bit more, or better yet, that I could have each of you over for tea so you can sit amongst the flowers and happy buzzing!

Even though this flower border hasn’t reached peak yet, I wanted to share this post as a reminder that now is a great time to start seeds for biennials such as Foxglove, Canterbury Bells, Delphinium, Hollyhocks, and more! So, if you’re looking for a quick and easy project that will give you loads of future blooms, it’s not too late. Happy Gardening!