Menu
Log in
Forgot password

Michigan Beekeepers Association

Log in
Forgot password
Trees for Pollinators

Michigan Beekeepers Association announces the "Trees for Pollinators" program for spring 2024. We invite local bee clubs, garden clubs, pollinator groups, arborist organizations, schools and local communities to help distribute tree seedlings.

This year we will be offering:

  • American Basswood - $20 for a 3-4' bare root tree
  • Tulip Poplar - $20 for a 3-4' bare root tree
  • Red Splendor Flowering Crabapple - $20 for a 2-3' bare root tree
  • Seven Sons - $25 for a potted 10-12" multi-stemmed tree
  • Pussy Willow - $20 for a 3-4' tree
  • Winged Sumac - $20 for three 18-24" plants

New this year: all orders will be taken through the MBA website and distributed through your local bee club or group for those buyers in their area.

Place your Tree Order Here

SEVEN SONS


A small hard-to-find tree for the landscape or front yard. Recently discovered in Asia, this non­ invasive plant is now extinct in its native land due to development.

  • Grows 20· tall and 15' wide.
  • Blooms in the fall! It is a pollinator magnet and is heavily visited by honeybees, native bees, bumble bees and migrating Monarch butterflies!
  • Fast growing and blooms after only 2 years.
  • The white fragrant flowers last for weeks before revealing vivid red, fan-like bracts, which make it look like the plant is blooming again in a completely different color. Peeling bark adds winter interest.
  • No serious pests or diseases and grows in zones 5-
  • 9. It is adaptable to most soils but does not bloom well in shade.
  • $25 for a potted 10-12" multi-stemmed tree


PUSSY WILLOW


  • A native small tree or shrub, it is one of the most significant early-spring sources of pollen and nectar for Honey and Native bees. Together with red maples, they produce the majority of
  • the early-spring resources our bees need to build up after winter.
  • They prefer wet soil and are often found along the margins of wetlands. They will grow well on upland sites, too.
  • Zones 2-9, plant in full sun, but this is not a good landscape plant, it is a rain-garden or marginal­ area plant.
  • Willows are male or female. Male willows, the ones with the attractive pussy-toes, produce pollen and nectar, while females produce only nectar. Both are valuable to bees! We cannot say which you'll receive, so buy several!
  • $20 for a 3-4' tree


WINGED SUMAC


  • One of four native sumacs in Michigan. Sumacs are significant nectar-producing plants, but the winged sumac is especially important because it blooms in the summer when other nectar sources are dwindling.
  • No part of the winged sumac is poisonous.
  • A deciduous shrub or small tree that grows well on marginal land, hillsides, fields and along woods. Tolerant of a wide range of soils, pH, in full sun or part shade.
  • Forms colonies if allowed to spread and grows to 10· tall.The leaves turn a brilliant red fall color which displays a vivid background in the landscape.
  • Extremely attractive to pollinators, and one author says he has never seen a flower with more bees!

$20 for three 18-24" plants


AMERICAN BASSWOOD


  • Basswoods provide the most nectar of any plant or tree known in the U.S.
  • Height of mature tree: GO' to 80'
  • Best for planting at the edge of your yard or in a park where it will have space to grow.
  • Growth: Medium to fast depending on soil conditions. Prefers deep, moist, rich soil, but also grows in dry, heavy soil. Likes sun or part shade.
  • Flowers: Very fragrant flowers around July 4. Starts to flower at 10-12 years old; will live 100 years or more. Does not flower every year.
  • Other info: Native from Maine to Florida, west to the Dakotas.
  • $20 for a 3-4' bare root tree


TULIP POPLAR


  • Large and fast-growing shade tree: 70' to 100·. Give it space to grow.
  • A native tree, they can produce a large honey crop.
  • They prefer deep, moist soil but are quite adaptable. Plant in full sun.
  • Yellow-green-orange tulip-like flowers in early summer are carried high on the branches.
  • $20 for a 3-4' bare root tree


RED SPLENDOR CRABAPPLE


  • A beautiful landscape tree that is suitable in the front yard, as a street tree, or in a natural area.
  • Grows 20· tall and wide. Very adaptable to many soil types, zones 3-9.
  • The large, fragrant spring flower starts rose-red and opens pink. Fruit is red and persists through the winter, until it is consumed by Robins, Cedar Waxwings, and other birds.
  • Attractive to honeybees, native bees and bumble bees.
  • Plant in full to part sun. The green leaves turn burgundy in the fall.
  • $20 for a 2-3' bare root tree


Copyright © 2024 Michigan Beekeepers Association
Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software