Terry Coombs wrote:
....
I've been trying to get borage (and other stuff) started here , supposed
to bloom later than most of the stuff here . I need something that blooms
into the summer heat , we have a dearth of nectar sources after about
mid-July , and often no nectar flow in the fall . Bees gotta eat , and
feeding them sugar syrup gets expensive .

if you don't have meadowland/open areas i'm not
sure how well most flowering plants i can think of
will do.

bee balm and the related bergamot are later
blooming.

some asters. russian sage.

if you start it now buckwheat should be blooming
in 4 - 6 weeks (needs sunlight). for next year's
blooming i would mix in with that some white clover,
red clover, alfafa, and birdsfoot trefoil. then you
could mow this field in patches to keep some of it
from flowering earlier and then it could be left after
the first or second cut to bloom later. it will take
a few years for the alfalfa and trefoil to really get
established.

for the immediate and shorter term buckwheat is a
good stopgap plant and a good nursery plant for the
clovers, trefoil and alfalfa...


songbird