A bee- and bumblebee-friendly balcony or garden is important for many reasons. Insects are not only essential for sustaining human food production, but also provide an important food source for wildlife, ensure environmental health, and help preserve biodiversity. Choosing native plants that serve as a food source for insects can help create a balanced ecosystem in your garden or on your balcony. Here, we'll show you the right plants for your garden and balcony that will attract bees and provide them with a habitat where they thrive.
What exactly is a pollinating insect?
Pollinators are animals that provide significant benefits to plants by transferring their pollen. This is necessary for some plants to reproduce. The largest groups include bees, wild bees, butterflies, bumblebees, and hoverflies.
What are nectar and pollen?
Pollination also has an advantage for the animal world, as nectar and pollen provide food for a variety of insects.
Nectar consists of sugar, water, and minerals and is secreted by plants as a glandular secretion from nectaries, also called honey glands, to attract animals. Nectar is produced during photosynthesis and is usually released through the flower. However, nectaries can also be found outside the flowers on leaf stalks.
The most important element for the plant is the pollen grain: it supplies the male part of a flowering plant's genetic material. It must be transported from one plant to the next for the long-term survival of the plant species. This is the sexual reproduction of plants. For bees, pollen is an important source of proteins and amino acids.
Flowering time explained
The flower is a leaf organ that serves the plant's sexual reproduction. After pollination and fertilization, they develop into seeds and fruits. Seeds, in turn, produce new plants. The flowering phase of a plant follows the growth phase. It marks the end of the life of annual plants. There are plants in which the flowers develop early. So-called early bloomers thrive from January to April. Mid-season bloomers open from May to August, and late bloomers bloom from September to December. It should be noted, however, that the same plant can bloom at different times depending on its geographical location.
These insect-friendly plants love bees and butterflies
Because pollinators are needed for about 70% of food crops, their preservation is particularly important for humans. Around 88% of flowering plants are also pollinated by insects. We need bees, bumblebees, butterflies, and the like to maintain the genetic diversity of flowering plants. The decline in insect populations is partly due to industrial agriculture with intensive pesticide use. Fewer and fewer habitats in the form of uncultivated areas, such as meadows, are available to insects, resulting in a lack of suitable nesting sites and food sources. The use of pesticides makes insects more susceptible to pathogens. For this reason, it is important to choose plants for your garden and balcony that are insect-friendly.
Plants for the balcony
Plants for bees
Many flowers attract pollinating insects: Sunflowers, daisies, and bluebells are good choices! Phacelia and dandelions are equally popular. Bulbs are also widely used. The white stonecrop is a succulent plant whose white flowers attract butterflies. Viper's bugloss is ideal for wild bees and other insects.
Insect-friendly plants: perennials, shrubs and hedges
Bee-friendly gardening
For an insect-friendly garden, it's important to use only safe organic fertilizers. Fertilization is essential for rapid growth and intensive fruit and flower production.
Perennial and hardy plants are popular with bees, and it can be helpful to leave a corner of the garden untouched so that bumblebees and other insects can nest in the soil there.
Additional tips: When creating a vegetable garden bed, you can use a wide range of food plants. Diversity is always best, for both animals and the soil. You can start preparing your garden as early as February. The main harvest season is from July to October. Bee magnets include the flowers of artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, leeks, and onions.
Flower strips: wildflowers, summer flowers, etc.
Flower strips offer a diverse array of flowers and are often planted along agricultural land, but are also popular with many private households. Ready-made seed mixes are available for purchase. These areas are not only beneficial for pollinating insects, but also provide food and refuge for other animals. Sowing usually takes place between April and June.
Whether it's bright red geraniums or brilliant yellow sunflowers, FARBIO® flower fertilizer provides your flowering plants with optimal nutrition and promotes long and intense blooms. This organic flower fertilizer is suitable for use in the garden, on the balcony, and indoors.
We're also participating: With every purchase from FARBIO® , more flowering areas are created for bees and other equally important insects in the Lüneburg Heath!
