Plants That Attract Bees in Colorado

Lavender is a honeybee magnet and thrives in exactly the conditions Colorado provides free of charge: sun, lean soil, and dry air. Sharp drainage is the one requirement it won't negotiate — plant it high, never in a low wet spot.

Shear it lightly after the first flush and most years it gives a second, smaller bloom.

A true Colorado native with electric blue-purple spikes that bumblebees work all day, and one of the best plants in the state for native bee species. Once established it wants essentially no supplemental water in a normal year.

Let it self-sow — a penstemon patch that's allowed to move around stays vigorous for decades.

Agastache covers the late-season gap that kills most pollinator gardens — it hits its stride in August when almost everything else is done, feeding bees and hummingbirds into October.

Like lavender, it demands drainage and hates winter-wet soil. Leave the stems standing over winter and cut back in spring.

The name is earned — the shaggy red and purple blooms pull in bumblebees, honeybees, and hummingbirds at once. It's the one plant on this list that appreciates a bit more water, so group it with your thirstier perennials.

Give it air circulation; crowded bee balm powders up with mildew by August.

The longest single bloom window on this list — red-and-yellow flowers from June until hard frost with almost no help. A native that treats poor soil and reflected heat as a feature.

Deadhead occasionally to keep it pumping, or leave late seed heads for finches.

Yarrow's flat-topped clusters are landing pads for dozens of small native bee and beneficial insect species that the showier flowers miss. Ferny foliage looks good all season and shrugs off drought completely.

Cut spent heads back to a side bud for reliable rebloom into September.