Spring is the best season to begin growing pollinating plants in the garden; and when we grow to feed bees, we are really helping ourselves. Bees, among other pollinating insects, help grow up to 1/3 of the world's plants and give us mature fruits and vegetables.

There are many perennial flowers and shrubs that can grow to help honey bees thrive including:

• Aster
• Sunflowers
• Bee balm
• Black-eyed Susans
• Butterfly bushes
• Eastern Redbuds
• and Blueberry bushes
• Flowering Cherry
• American Holly
• Crabapples
• Black gum
• Honeysuckle
• Climbing rose
• Buckeye
• Golden raintree
• Lavender
• Thyme
• Elderberry
• Clover

Some plants, including Black-eyed Susan an Aster, are deer-resistant and should keep deer away from growing sites. Help to save the bees this spring by planting these types of flowers and shrubbery.