Summer herbaceous

Here a bumble bee is getting nectar from a penstemon (Penstemon digitalis). Penstemon blooms very early in the summer, before most of the other plants below, and so it’s a nice bridge between the early spring plants and the summer plants.

Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) must be full of nectar, like most members of the mint family, since bees (and other interesting insects, such as hummingbird moths) are always around when it’s blooming.

I love jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) and so do the bees and hummingbirds. It’s the only annual plant I grow (except sometimes sunflowers).

Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) is a bee favorite. They love it!

They serve another purpose, too: Birds (especially the vegetarian goldfinches) love the seeds.

It’s one of our favorites as well. We grab a leaf to crush every time we go by to enjoy the wonderful minty-licorice scent. Apparently, it’s also an edible herb that people use in food or to make a tea, but we haven’t tried that.

The purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a favorite of bees and also of monarchs.

Birds — especially goldfinches — love the seeds, too, now that I no longer deadhead them as I used to do as an ornamental gardener.

Milkweeds, such as this swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), aren’t just for monarchs.

This happens to be a carpenter bee, which is about the same size as bumble bees. You can distinguish them by looking at their abdomen: the abdomen of carpenter bees is shiny. Some people kill carpenter bees, but they’re also considered a beneficial insect. For what it’s worth, we have a lot of carpenter bees and haven’t had any damage.

Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) does triple duty. It’s a host plant for monarch butterflies, a nectar plant for other butterflies and insects, and glorious fragrance for me.

Wild indigo (Baptisia australis) is another bee favorite. I’ve heard that the pioneers used it for blue dye. It does look like blue jeans color.

For some reason, it’s a plant that passers-by often ask about, perhaps because of its beautiful foliage in addition to its striking color when blooming.

Most of my solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum) is the plain species, and I also have some of the giant solomon’s seal (P. commutatum), too.

Unlike this bee, I used to think solomon’s seal was kind of boring. As I’ve grown (or maybe just aged), I now appreciate its elegance, and it’s become one of my favorites.

I love the way bees manage to get to the nectar. This bee is pushing its way into this native iris (Iris versicolor).

Years ago, I thought the only kind of iris was the common non-native iris. This one may not be as large, but it’s beautiful!

Another bee favorite is wild senna (Senna hebecarpa) (also known as Cassia hebecarpa). These are tall plants with golden flowers, beautiful foliage, and attractive seeds.

This sunflower is an American native (Helianthus annuus). This particular cultivar ‘Lemon Queen’ is specified by the Great Sunflower Project, a community science project I have participated in. They use H. annuus for the project since it’s such a good plant for bees.