Balkon für Bienen in Bern

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Balcony plants for wild bees in Bern

Which plants on a Bern balcony flower for wild bees and butterflies, and when to plant them. Pick the month, print the list.

Balcony for bees shows 20 plants that feed wild bees, bumblebees and butterflies on a balcony in Bern. At the top you pick a month. Two lists then appear: “Blooming now”, with everything that flowers in that month, and “Sow or plant now”, with everything you can put into a window box or pot now.

Each plant is listed with its common and botanical name, a short care note, its flowering months and labels such as “full sun”, “part shade ok” or “edible”. The selection includes, for example, crocus, chives, thyme, phacelia, lavender and ivy. The aim is to have something in flower from February with the crocus to October with ivy and stonecrop.

Below the lists are simple rules for a bee-friendly balcony: choose single flowers, no pesticide and not even “organic” spray, lean soil without fertiliser, a water dish with stones as landing spots, leave dead stems standing in autumn as winter quarters, and put up a nesting block. When nothing flowers in a month, the page reminds you of the winter rest.

The selection is based on Bioterra, Pro Natura and experience on a Bern balcony on the Swiss plateau at about 550 m. The flowering months are indicative; a warm spring shifts them. There is no guarantee for any particular balcony. No tracking.

Also in Bärn Kit: Club event kitchen · Bern seasonal calendar · Leftovers kitchen · Still good to eat?

In the blog: A balcony for bees: plants for wild bees in a small space

Part of Bärn Kit: free tools for Bern, no account needed.

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