Having a garden full of flowers is a surefire way to make your house pop. The bright colors and beautiful smells can turn a drab yard into the most attractive yard on the block. Unfortunately, bees also find it appealing. Bees are necessary for pollinating one-sixth of all flowering plants on earth! Without them, we wouldn’t have broccoli, pumpkins, blueberries, and countless other fruits and vegetables. Bees, like people, love the smell of flowers. They’re also drawn to colorful arrays. But the buzzers are only able to see the color spectrum from orange to ultraviolet, color humans can’t see! Here are five flowers that don’t attract bees in Provo, Utah.
Zinnia
These flowering shrubs are a great addition to any garden. They’re easy to grow and maintain, and they’re absolutely beautiful. The wide open shape of the flower isn’t very attractive to bees but it is a favorite of the monarch butterfly, another good pollinator. When you’re planting zinnias, make sure to choose light colors that bees will find less appealing.
Penstemon (Beardtongue)
Penstemon or beardtongues have long, tube-shaped flowers that are unappealing to bees, but enticing to hummingbirds. The red flowers have even been known to repel bees.
Feverfew
These dainty white and yellow flowers look like daisies and are an excellent addition to your bee-proof garden. Feverfew has a strong scent that humans like but bees despise. We should warn you they’ve been known to keep other pollinators away as well. The leaves of feverfew, when dried, have medicinal properties and are often used to treat headaches.
Marigolds
These flowers can make any garden pop. The bright yellow contrasted against the green stems and leaves are beautiful. Although bees love the color yellow, marigolds have very little pollen, so they’re virtually bee-proof. On top of that, the marigold has very little fragrance. Bees love a good smelling flower and marigolds just aren’t up to snuff.
Roses
That’s right, roses are not attractive to bees. Lucky for you! These flowers are famous for their beauty, just not among bees. When choosing which roses to grow, make sure you find the unscented variety. Look for red roses and lighter colored varieties like white. These are a bit tougher to grow but are well worth the effort. Be careful. These flowers still have stinging thorns!!
Need some extra help? Call the professionals!
If you want some professional help when creating the perfect, kid-friendly, bee repellent flower garden for your Provo home, LawnStarter is here to help! Covering all lawn care services, our trained professionals can help make your lawn a safe place for your kids and unappealing to bees. Check out our Provo lawn care page for more info or call us at 1-866-822-1766.
