Here are some other bee favorites:
Angelica, Cilantro, Dill, Fennel, Sage, Tansy, Thyme, Anemone, Aster, Buttercup, Daisies, Feverfew, Purple Coneflower, Crimson Clover, Gaillardia, Blue-eyed Grass, Eastern Columbine, Ironweed, Spotted Horsemint, Goldenrod, Liatris, Lobelia, Lupine, Geranium, Ohio Spiderwort, Joe Pye Weed, Baptisia, Black-eyed Susan, Lance-leaved & Plains Coreopsis, Beardtongue, Foxglove, Hollyhocks, Prairie Sunflower, Milkweed, Blue Vervain, Heliotrope, French Marigold, and Corn Poppy.

Since you don't have seeds to trade do you want to obtain seeds by offering postage? There is an offer for newbies where you can get 25 packs of seeds for 9 stamps postage. Send a wish list to Val at the December Newbie Seed Project Offer

You should set up your messaging on your profile page so people can contact you. GO TO YOUR EDIT PROFILE PAGE AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR CURRENT EMAIL ADDRESS LISTED CORRECTLY. Then go to ADVANCED SETTINGS (<<--click here) (located under “Account”on the left side of the “edit profile” page or at-

https://www.houzz.com/settingsAdvanced ) Scroll down to "Privacy settings"

and select the option of “ALLOW ANYONE TO MESSAGE ME” under "Who can message me". Don't forget to click the UPDATE button at the bottom of the page on the right to save your changes.

Please post your planting zone and a little about your garden soil, sun exposure, etc. I may have some seeds I can send you for postage. I won't be able to send before January because my seeds are put away for the holidays. If you are interested please message me in January.

Happy Holidays! Jen

Max, welcome to the group. There are lots of seeds available by trade or sometimes for stamps.

Do you plan to garden or just tuck in a few plants here and there?

In Missouri the DNR is an excellent source for starter plants suitable for wildlife. Perhaps Indiana is also.

I have some plants that I could share starts from in the spring for postage. Best wishes for your project

Maxwell_1, I sent you a message in response to your email.

Go to your profile page and click on "Messages" to see any messages you received or sent. You may not see messages if you haven't set up your profile so it accepts messages from everyone. See my post above for directions.

Also, I make up my own seed information cards that go in my seed packets. I use microsoft paint. The information is collected from reputable gardening sites on the internet.

Thanks for the great trade. I'm looking forward to growing some walking onions along with the sunflowers and buckwheat next Spring.

Click here to see the Rate & Review for Maxwell_1.

Jen, Thanks for all your help. Glad you were the first.

For what it's worth, bees LOVED our honeyberry bushes--they were one of the first sources of food for them early in the spring. I regret that I can't offer you any--we moved last summer & had to leave them behind.

Zeed, now I'm wondering, do the bees like forsythia? Don't remember seeing many buzzing around but maybe it is too early

Beth, mine only lived a couple years before succumbing to winter kill... I don't remember seeing bees working the flowers.

There are other trees & shrubs that can be good pollen sources. I have a large colony of ground-dwelling bees, their emergence each Spring coincides with the male box elder blooming above them. I had a white birch until recently, the bees were very active when the catkins on the birch were in bloom.

There are a lot of bee plants, but it would be beneficial to have food plants which bloom in sequence. With Spring arriving, take notes on which plants - including trees - are in bloom each week locally, and try to find flowers which might fill the gaps. Be prepared to feed your bees supplementally... and if you have not already done so, visit the Beekeeping Forum for more (and probably better) advice.

maxwell_1

I hope you got to winter sow some of the seeds I sent you. If not, anything that says stratify should get a few weeks chill. You can dampen seeds in a paper towel and refrigerate in baggies if you think the weather will warm up too soon. Most of the tender annuals don't need a chill time.

From my experience I found that my asters, marigolds and salvias were visited a lot during the fall months, so make sure you have plenty of them growing.

I found this in my readings:

Bees like daisy-shaped flowers - asters and sunflowers, also tall plants like hollyhocks, larkspur and foxgloves.

Honey bees love flowers from the allium family, all the mints, all beans except French beans and flowering herbs.

Bees do not like the smell of alcohol on people, the "animal" smell of leather clothing, even watchstraps. Bees regard dark clothing as a threat – it could be a bear! Bees are sometimes confused by scented soaps, shampoos and perfumes, best avoided near the hive.

I can't remember just what I sent you but if you hear of any I didn't send and that you want, please let me know. I may have some from trades.

1st- i'd suggest you find a local beekeeping association & find a mentor if you want your hive to survive. success requires your being pro-active. plant dutch white clover in your lawn. do NOT kill dandelions. if you have areas where you can grow taller things plant sweet yellow clover, alfalfa, white or purple prairie clover, crimson clover, lots of russian sage & hyssop, oregano, zinnias, for starters. Russian sage, hyssop, & oregano bloom all summer & my bees are steady on them. go to places like lowes in the fall & buy all that you can afford when they mark them down to 1.00 or less. I paid .50 & was given a lot last fall. you can also dig a small trench next to Russian sage, lay a branch in it, & cover it with dirt & it will root. go to websites like worldwide beekeeping, beemaster, & bee source & read, read , read, & read some more. the varrora mite that was introduced to the U.S. in the 80's is the biggest problem beekeepers face these days. the small hive beetle from Africa hasn't helped things either.

rober don't forget the neonicks and other Pesticides.... it's a battle

i'm all toooooooo familiar with those. most commercial nurseries are using them. to their credit home depot is requiring suppliers to disclose their use in their plants. you'll see a tag spike in the pot letting you know of the presence of neonicotinoids. like we don't already have enough to deal with. these have banned by the E.U. there was a fresh study in Germany that decided that these pesticides were so bad after all. the study however was done by Bayer chemicals. i'm sure they are even more trustworthy than Monsanto. want to buy a bridge?