bees love basil
Last post 14-04-2009 9:55 PM by mini stroni. 8 replies.
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21/09/2008 09:35 PM
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just thought i'd post this for anyone trying to attract as many bees as possible into their allotment or garden next year. this spring we bought an african basil plant for £1.69 from our local garden centre. we planted it in a sunny place on the allotment and it grew to about 3ft tall by 3ft wide by midsummer. every day it was absolutely covered in bees - honey bees, bumble bees, solitary bees - all sorts all buzzing away together. there must have been easily fifty to a hundred bees on the bush at all times right throughout the day. i've never seen a plant so successfully attracting bees, it was fantastic. if anyone wants to know where all the bees have gone - they're all on our allotment getting drunk on the african basil! i'd advise anyone who wants to get bees onto their plot next year to rush out and buy one of these plants as soon as they appear in the local garden centre - the best bee plant ever!
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21/09/2008 10:17 PM
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- Hosta
- UK
- 21 Sep 2008
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39
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Oooo, I am looking for plants to attract bees to a wildlife garden I am going to plant up, this sounds like its just the plant. Was only thinking of flowers so far, but will keep this African Basil in mind !! 
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22/09/2008 09:02 AM
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- sue1002
- Ipswich, Suffolk
- 06 Sep 2005
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5,200
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It's good to hear you have lots of bees mini stroni, we have lots here too. The plants in the garden here that the bees love are Lavender, Buddleja, Dahlias, Linaria purpurea, Verbena bonariensis, Marigolds, Cleomes, Nasturtiums, Sedums, runner beans and tomatoes to name but a few.
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22/09/2008 07:33 PM
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hosta - good luck with your wildlife garden; sue's plant list is a good one for bees. sue - we have cleome too which we hope will seed itself around for next year. but the african basil beat all other bee-friendly plants on the plot - it's brilliant.
let's hope we get lots of sun next summer to help the bees survive too. apparently there won't be any english honey in the shops by christmas because of the declining bee population.
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22/09/2008 09:04 PM
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- sue1002
- Ipswich, Suffolk
- 06 Sep 2005
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5,200
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I've been growing Cleomes for three years now and haven't actually had any seedlings come up unless they've been eaten by the slugs and snails as they emerge. Around about now the lower of the seed pods to set are beginning to dry out and once they start to split, I collect the seeds from inside to sow for next year.
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17/03/2009 08:18 PM
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- roger
- chilworth surrey
- 10 Mar 2009
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hi little weed here! yes i'd love to have a basil plant in my garden and in my allotment, but plese please can you give me more information on it latin name etc etc, and more importantly where on earth can i purchase some from , i have tried all my local garden centres, but no such luck! i'm hopeing you can help me out, many thanks little weed!!.
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17/03/2009 09:37 PM
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hello little weed - you won't find it yet, it's way too early for these plants to be in the garden centres. try again around may/june when all frost has passed. i don't know the latin name as it's always labelled as 'african basil'. it's a woodier plant than sweet basil or any of the other types and has lovely blue flowers a bit like sage flowers. my local garden centre in west london will have some in may/june so if you can't get it locally, let me know later and i'll pass on details of how to get here so you can buy it. i'll report back here when i see it in stock, so keep looking in. :)
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17/03/2009 09:57 PM
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here's a pic:
http://www.gapphotos.com/imagedetails.asp?imageno=66013
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14/04/2009 09:55 PM
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little weed - african basil plants have just arrived in my local garden centre (west london). check with your garden centre now and if they don't have them yet, ask if they can get some for you.
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