any combination of flowers that offer a succession of blooming will help the garden.

If you want some small shrubs, Spirea would fit the bill at about 4' in height. There are lots to choose from. Mix them in with perennials such as Echinacea (Purple Coneflower), Nepeta (Catmint), re-blooming daylilies and Salvia to attract bees and beneficials. There are also some nice sedum varieties out there, and the flower heads can be left on for winter interest.

Linda

Mixing in edibles could be nice too since you're already growing vegetables. Blueberries, perennial herbs, maybe some currants.

I did a lot of research two years ago when I started my garden on beneficial insect plantings. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but they recommend things like herbs, bunching grasses, plants with lacy foliage (I have dill) and flowering plants including ones with tiny flowers which attract a different class of pollinators. Native plants and piles of brush are also useful.

I've planted all around my vegetable beds with this in mind. So far this year we've had great pollination, and the ladybugs have showed up to deal with the aphids which were a huge problem last year.

One of my beds with sage, Egyptian walking onions, miniature roses, columbine, snapdragons and rosemary, with the 25' rhododendrons I inherited in the background. It's located at one end of my kitchen garden.