10 plants with blue flowers to attract bees to your garden!

You've understood the benefits of attracting these hymenoptera and want to know which blue flowers can help you do so. Here's a list of 10 melliferous and non-melliferous varieties that can help with your project!

What are the blue flowers that attract bees to a garden?

Whether wild or domesticated, bees are small insects that play an indispensable role in nature. According to some statistics, thousands of plants could decline without the intervention of these pollinating hymenoptera. It's vital to encourage their presence in gardens and green spaces, particularly by growing certain flowers. So it's easy to welcome them by encouraging their favourite flowers! It's a well-known fact that blue flowers attract bees! Here are 10 blue flowers that are easy to grow in the north of France:

• The Himalayan poppy: the blue of this sumptuous flower doesn't go unnoticed! This highly colourful perennial from the Papaveraceae family is much sought after for its effect, which is both aesthetic and melliferous. Himalayan or Tibetan poppy (Meconopsis betonicifoli) seedlings are not affected by cold or frost. It is a wonderful garden plant that bees love.

• The hortensia: these lovely flowers are in the spotlight! Their blue variety will not only brighten up your green spaces, but also helps to gather bees in your vegetable garden. Even if you plant them in cold climates, hydrangeas are hardy garden plants, even in winter frosts! The sublime blue flowers of these Hydrangeaceae are much loved by gardeners and bees alike.

• The crocus : This is a splendid blue flower, among other colours, which tolerates not only the cold, but also the snow! The crocus (Tecophilaea cyanocrocus) is a real bumblebee and bee magnet. This plant from the iridaceae family will look great in your garden. You'll be contributing to the activity of these wonderful little insects.

• The tulip : this variety, such as Blue parrot, is highly prized in gardens. It provides great cold hardiness down to -15°C and is easy to grow. The tulip (Tulipa) is a hardy flower with many colours available, including blue from the lily family. It is very resistant to frost and is very popular with bees.

• The phacelia : this is a hydrophyllaceous is widespread on beekeepers' fields. Blue phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia) is the Holy Grail of bees.... Its ability to attract them is fabulously remarkable! It's one of the most honey-producing herbaceous plants, and it's also resistant to extreme cold and frost. It will be very effective in your vegetable garden.

• The garden iris: an extremely hardy iridaceae, it tolerates temperatures around -25°C. The blue garden iris (Iris barbus) is a perfect plant to decorate a garden or accompany the vegetables in your kitchen garden if you have embankments. What's more, this easy-to-grow bulb will delight bees in search of nectar.

• The pansy: the winter flowering of this biennial violaceae is an asset for attracting bees during colder or rainy seasons. The magnificent pansy (Viola) with its superb blue colouring is a hardy perennial that flowers in both summer and winter. This makes it easier for these insects to proliferate. It is nicknamed the queen of winter.

• The mountain centaury: it is a great favourite with butterflies but also with bees. This hardy melliferous plant is ideal in a vegetable garden. This pretty asteraceous plant with its blue flowers is very decorative in beds or borders. It is also known as mountain cornflower or perennial cornflower. Mountain knapweed (Centaurea montana) tolerates the cold very well.

• The male orchid: from the orchidaceae family, the blue-coloured male orchid (Orchis mascula) is the decoy plant par excellence for attracting the attention of bees. In fact, its mimicry of nectar-bearing species makes it an undeniable bait. Extremely hardy, it is not afraid of frost and can withstand temperatures as low as -20°C.

• The Snow Glory: a bulbous plant with blue flowers, snow glory (Chionodoxa) is ideally suited to garden planting. A rhizome plant, this asparagus is frequently visited by bees looking for food! It can be sown as a mass or planted as a border plant. Hardy, it doesn't mind cold climates.