I often get a lot of honeybees, bumblebees and carpenter bees on my property, but this year I've noticed the carpenters seem to be particularly abundant. They seem to like my raspberry bushes, but I was thinking about building a pollinator garden in the corner of my yard not too far from the raspberries. I was wondering what kinds of plants the carpenters might like? I assume given their size, plants with a flatter flower would be more useful for them? Any suggestions? :smily:

Plants that the honeybees and bumblebees might also like would be a bonus. They spend a lot of time around the raspberries and milkweeds already, but I'd love to give everyone some more variety.

~Hi TK,
I am SO glad you don't want to eradicate the carpenter bees on your property! Many homeowners despise them for the damage they can do to wooden decks, swing sets, sheds, etc. Yet this fact remains: they are excellent pollinators and steps can be taken to keep them away from property.
Place your pollinator garden far away from any wooden items you don't want damaged and provide them with plenty of wood they CAN use like assorted sizes of logs and branches placed under bushes and in waste areas and brush piles. Mounds of rock or dry stone walls and a few random patches of bare earth provides habitat for all kinds of native bees.
Milkweeds are a favorite( I posted a photo of Asclepias incarnata recently in the database of a male carpenter enjoying himself)
If you have room, bushes are a perfect and much needed addition to pollinator gardens. In particular a top choice of the bees on this property is Hydrangea arborescens but ONLY use types that have "fluffy" petals like: "White dome", "Haas Halo", or straight species "Wild hydrangea" Also, Buttonbush(Cephalanthus occidentalis 'Sputnik') I watch the bees literally run through the hydrangea fluff like children playing in a bubble bath!! Perennials on the list: Culver's Root, Black Cohosh, American Wisteria, and Lupines. Because Carpenter Bees are so heavy and strong they seem to prefer flowers they can hang from often using only one or two legs!
Sorry for the winded reply-- but I am passionate about restoring health to our endangered pollinators.
Best of luck~ Cheryl

Thank you! I'll have to go to one of the nurseries shortly and see if they have some of those available.
As of right now, I have a bunch of milkweeds growing around the raspberry bush. They appeared on their own, and although they're in some weird spots, I leave them there because the pollinators love them so much. I just put some materials in that area two days ago as well, in hopes the carpenters will find some use in them.
That area of the yard is admittedly a bit messy, but there's always a literal cloud of different insects hanging out over there in the warmer months, so clearly they're happy with it how it is. I had some more honeybees over there the last few days, and a few different butterflies.
There is another large bush nearby, though I'm not sure what kind it is. On the other side of that bush, is a corner with a small tree. I think I'm going to dig out that corner for a pollinator garden.

I like having the little carpenters around. They haven't been problematic in any way so far. Once in a while one finds it's way into the house, but it doesn't bother me. I just scoop them up and return them outside.

Aside from being fun to watch, they do an excellent job taking care of my fruits and vegetables too!

They are hitting the hyssop hard right now



it is easy to start from seed and is a perennial
they also really like the button bush , but so does everyone
and you might mot be looking for a bush

Here they like any of the milkweeds, the large Salvias from the guarantica group that I planted mainly for humminbirds, lantana, verbena, monardas, mexican sunflower, cutleaf coneflower, zinnias, sunflowers, culvers root, etc. We have a lot of them and since the yard is heavily planted, they, and other native bees have surged in numbers. And someone must have honeybees nearby as it has been the best year for them since we started 4 years ago. That's good as I hope to be trying to capture swarms next year. Unfortunately, where I had hoped to keep hives is now heavily planted as well!

I'm thinking about rooftops hives but worry about inclement weather in those exposed areas doing damage.

I have nearly all the plants UrbanWild recommended, and I would like to add a plant that all bees seem to be crazy about. That's lemon balm. It usually blooms in the spring, but if you cut it back hard after the bloom is over, it will often bloom again. The carpenters and other bees that I have prefer the flat, Daisy style zinnias, and the butterflies prefer them as well. The only insects I have seen feeding off the Pom Pom or dahlia style zinnias are the skipper butterflies.

this weeks favorite seems to be the obedient plant

Thought I'd post an update.

I didn't end up getting to as much pollinator gardening last year as I hoped, but I spent the last while gathering materials for this year. I collected some materials to add into the garden, and a bunch of seeds to fill it with.

Because a lot of the big healthy trees nearby are being cut down (park's being destroyed. Not happy...) I ended up retrieving a nice sized log today from the discards. I'm going to drill tunnels into it and tuck it under the raspberries for the carpenters. I think I'm going to go back and see if I can retrieve another for under my mystery shrub. Those construction workers ended up destroying my neighbor's fence as well, which was also constructed out of rough logs. Instead of repairing it, she decided to toss the remains, and offered if I wanted to look through the logs if I had a use for them. So I pulled out some of those as well. Those ones already have some holes through them that could be handy burrows, but I'm going to use them to line out an area of the yard to convert into the pollinator garden. Figure they'll make a nice border while providing more wood for the bees.

I thought it was a bit early, but I've already seen some honeybees roaming around, so I picked up a nice hyacinth to provide some food. I think I'm going to go back for a few more, as they seem to be enjoying them.

As for the area I'm going to dig out, I have a bunch of seeds to sow in there. I found a seed mix that contains New England Aster, Black Eyed Susan, Borage, Butterfly Weed, Corn poppy, Eastern Columbine, Forget-Me-Not, Perennial Gaillardia, Lance Leaf Coreopsis, Lemon Mint, Partridge Pea, Lupines, Purple Coneflower, Sweet Mignoette and Wild Bergamot. I got a second one with Alyssum, Daisy, Bachelor Buttons, Butterfly Weed, Candytuft, Columbine, Coneflowers, Coreopsis, Cosmos, Scarlet Flax, Marigold, Poppy and Wallflower.

I also picked up some Asclepias seeds to add in. Lastly, I'm going to build a new herb garden this year, so that'll provide some more plants for everyone to enjoy.

I'm kind of hoping some branches will end up in that discard pile so I can gather a few of those to put in the garden. I have some grasses to prune shortly, so I might keep some of the dry blades to pile somewhere as well.

I think that'll be a nice start.

On another note, I discovered some mud nests on my property today. I'm not sure who exactly they belong to, but nice to see them there anyways.

Mud nests are a type of wasps. I though you would be moving, so why sow perennials that won't bloom until their second or third year? I love the idea of the logs for nesting places.

In terms of the seed mixes, I'm admittedly not super familiar with a lot of the varieties included. I'm not sure which are annual, perennial, etc. Have to research them more. I grabbed them to add some variety.

Either way, I won't be moving till next year (assuming Covid doesn't cause massive delays...), so I can maintain things till then. Hopefully once I've moved on, they'll still be maintained and the insects can enjoy them when they're ready.

I'm still going to go get some more plants for this spring though. There's very little alive outside right now, so I wouldn't mind a few hardy plants that are blooming now to provide food for the pollinators that are already out and about.

Edit: Peeked outside a few minutes ago. There's honeybees swarming that hyacinth I brought home.

Happy Bees

Ok, here's what I see in the list that are annuals; borage, Batchelor buttons, cosmos, maybe the poppies, and maybe the wallflower. Some times columbines bloom the first year if planted early enough. I'm not sure about the sweet mignonette. The lemon mint, well it depends on which one that it is. All the rest are perennials.
A good choice for bees is to find some early salvias at nurseries if you can. Also they are crazy about basil! Put in a pot and let it flower. Coneflowers will soon be readily available, and they are usually pretty inexpensive. These all do well in pots. The salvias and coneflowers you could take with you when you move. 😊

Perfect!
I have some herb plants already, basil being one. So that's good news.

I went back to the nursery today and they had new batch of hyacinths. Much larger than the previous one I got. So I gathered a bunch so those honeybees have more available. These ones haven't bloomed yet, but they're getting close. Got some blues, purples and whites to go with the pink one I already have. They're still low on selection for right now, so I'll go hunting again in a few weeks. I'll keep an eye out for your suggestions when everyone starts stocking up.

I appreciate all the help. I've never really been a big "flower grower", so a lot of these will be new for me.
I have lots of Morning Glory seeds too. Not sure if those are a popular bee flower. Hopefully they'll be more successful this year. They ended up becoming a MASSIVE leafy vine last year that engulfed the entire fence. Only got a few flowers.
The dead vines are actually still on the fence right now. Went to tear it down, but there's a ton of ladybugs using it for shelter right now, so I left it alone.

I checked by the park that's being demolished, and the construction workers tossed a huge pile of branches in the side of the gully from the trees they cut down. I think I'm going to go gather some up for the garden. I still want another good sized log, but that first one I brought back was heavy. Good workout though.

Oh! I did get lemon balm seeds for this year too, as you previously recommended.

Carpenter and bumblebees are CRAZY about morning glories! They just love them. I grow both purpurea and nils. They will go to both. The hyacinths are a really good choice for early bees. So often there's not much for them in the early spring. Bees also love a lot of herbs; oregano, thyme, lavender and lemon balm are always full of bees when they bloom. Bees see in the ultraviolet range, so they will be attracted to purple and white flowers, and often pink and yellow.
I always amazed how many bees I have on my basils every year. I always plant my basil with my tomatoes, and in the height of the basils bloom time I can hear the bees buzzing when I walk out the door.
Here's a variety of different bee species on many different blooming plants.

Aw... look at them all!

I usually grow a few different varieties of Basil. I collected several new herbs to try this year, so I'll hopfully have an entire herb garden going. There's lots of bubs slowly coming to life in the gardens. So hopefully those aren't too far behind. It's still so early, so everything's still dead outside for the most part. Not a lot of food sources for everyone right now. With our Covid cases rising again, and talks of another lockdown coming soon, I think most people are avoiding going out to the nurseries right now too. Those workers tearing out that park really don't help either. Those gardens always have lots of flowers in them. All gone now...

Maybe I'll plant more Morning Glorys than I was initially intending. I have some extra trellises I could set up for them. They're nice blue ones.
I'll have to watch for more coneflowers too. I wanted to grow Echinacea this year, partially because I like Echinacea tea. Would be another bonus for the bees.

We grow a LOT of extra herbs thrown in anywhere there is space. Easily 90% of the herbs planted here are for pollinators.

All my herbs I let bloom for the bees, then I cut them back and harvest the new growth for cooking or drying. They will bloom again in the fall, when the bees really need a source of nectar.

So... I recently planted lots of different Basils in large pots, and a collection of Salvias. Also picked up some decent sized Monardas with buds on the way. I got a little Ageratum as well to go with the Salvias in a planter.

Been sick lately unfortunately, but hoping I'm better soon, so I can head out and gather a few more. Still have some spots available. One of the nurseries has coneflowers and several others available now, so I'd like to pick up some of those for the garden.

My raspberries and hibiscus are blooming away right now, and I've seen a lot of carpenters and honeys visiting them. I also have at least one carpenter that made a home in the garden. Found a new hole drilled in the wood near the raspberries, and a chunky carpenter kept returning to it. So that's several guests and at least one resident so far.

i love any type of bee. but this year the carpenters are off the chart. they're so busy chewing my pine planter boxes on my porch they don't even stop when I bang on the sides of the planter. the frass is in piles on the porch floor. I can hear them chewing from the driveway. Since I don't want to hurt them I put aluminum baking pans on the bottom of the planters-with T-REX tape- and that seems to be working for now.. It got to the point where all you could hear was the chewing and gnawing. I do like the idea of having an area for them to live in the drilled out logs. Sweet! A bee condo.

forgot to put dill in. if I can find it I have the space for it, it's a pollenator fav. thanks for jogging my memory about the herbs.