Bees in the garden are a good thing. Bees pollinate about 75 percent of all of the food crops in the world.
Many culinary herbs will attract bees to your garden. Grow herbs and you will get double-duty attracting pollinators and bringing flavorings to the kitchen. Many herbs can be harvested cut-and-come-again, leaves, flowers, and seeds. That means you can enjoy many of these herbs all season without replanting.
Herbs can be planted in an herb bed or spread out to the corners of your vegetable beds to make sure bees stop along the way to visit your vegetable crops as they move from one herb to another.
Herbs that attract bees to the garden
Here are several herbs that attract bees to the garden and also can be used in the kitchen.
| Herb | Part used | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Anise | Seeds, leaves | Licorice-like flavor for baked good, soups. |
| Bee Balm | Leaves, fresh and dried | Shred leaves and petals for green salads. Use flowers in sandwiches. |
| Borage | Leaves | Shred leaves for cucumber flavor in salads or sour cream. |
| Fenugreek | Leaves, fresh and dried; seeds | Use leaves as a vegetable, cooked with potatoes, spinach, or rice. |
| Lemon balm | Leaves, fresh and dried | Tea; lemon-mint flavor also used in cooking fish and poultry. |
| Mints | Leaves, fresh and dried; flowers for salads and garnishes | Favoring for carrots, eggplant, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, and zucchini. Use in marinade, jelly, and sauce. |
| Oregano and Marjoram | Leaves, flower knots | Use in Italian cooking, for pasta sauces, pizza, roasted vegetables. Greek dishes: souvlaki, baked fish, Greek salad. Mexican dishes: beans dishes, salsas. |
| Sage | Leaves, fresh or dried; flowers as garnish | Flavoring for meats and poultry. Good with apples, dried beans, cheese, onions, tomatoes. |
| Sweet Basil | Leaves fresh | Companion to tomatoes in salad, sauce, soup. Also with fish and seafood and roast veal and lamb. |
| Thymes | Leaves and sprigs; flowers for garnishes | Withstands long, slow cooking–stews, casseroles, soups; enhances other herbs. |
| Winter Savory | Leaves and sprigs; flowers for garnishes and salads. | Flavoring in long-cooked meat and vegetables dishes and stuffings, often with green and fava beans. |
Source: harvesttotable.com
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