We have a small piece of land at the side of our greenhouse. For years it has housed conifer clippings and general garden debris.

This week we’ve been clearing it out and have stumbled across some beautiful soil. It’s only a small patch - about 3 feet wide and 7 feet long. I ummed and ahhed about what to do with it for ages and have decided on a bee garden.

Save our bees

We signed up for the save our bees campaign, (another free home education resource) in conjunction with the National Science and engineering week. They sent us a packet of seeds and I’m still trying to find out what is in them.

The bumblebee is becoming endangered and, as they are responsible for

pollinating one third of the crops we eat, our future depends on them. According to Einstein, once the bee disappears, we will follow in four short years.

Bee friendly plants

My research over the past couple of days has been about the sorts of plants that attract bees. I’ve also been thinking back to past summers to remember what plants in our garden they swarm around.

According to a great article in the latest issue (issue nine) of Sustained magazine, comfrey is one of their favourites at Chez Green, along with mint, thyme, lavender and sage. They also love the echinacea (which has now keeled over and died) and the apple blossom.

So it looks like I might be planting another small herb garden in their honour!

I’d love to hear about the plants that attract bees to your garden so that I can incorporate your suggestions into my little bee haven.