PLANTS NOW BEING GROWN AND PLANT HISTORY

NOTE: All plant information comes from Honey Plants Manual by Harvey B. Lovell Ph. JJ

MOUNTAIN MINT-A very fragrant mint with flat-topped clusters of small white, 2 lipped flowers and long, very slender leaves, common in the eastern states west to Minnesota and Texas in old pastures and fields. It blooms in late summer giving a light amber honey strongly flavored with mint.

VITEX-Branching shrubs introduced from China and now widely planted for ornament and bee pasture. The variety incisa with deeply cleft leaflets is usually recommended for bees. The long spikes of blue flowers are ex­tremely attractive to bees over a period of several months in summer and fall. The honey is white with a greenish tinge (according to Vans ell) and is a fine flavor. J. E. Johnson has 700 shrubs and considers the vitex the best possible species to plant for bee pasture. The chaste tree (V. Agnus-castus) is also much visited by bees for nectar. It has larger blue flowers.

BUTTON BUSH-A shrub 4-10 feet tall with a simple pair of leaves growing in wet places producing perfectly round clusters of white, tubular flowers. It yields nectar freely and produces a white or light amber honey with a good flavor but it is generally mixed with other kinds. Small surpluses have been reported in Vermont and Indiana and other northern states. Roy Cory reported that in Indiana a super of honey may be made from adjacent creek bottoms (ABJ Sept.1946)

BLACK-EYED SUSAN-Rough, perennial herbs 2-4 feet tall   with large composite flowers usually with yellow rays (sometime with an orange spot at the base) and brown disk flowers on a high receptacle. Common over eastern two thirds of the United States in old fields and waste places. Black-eyed Susan blooms from June to October. The honey is yellow-amber with a strong flavor not con­sidered very desirable. It is particularly abundant in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

ANISE HYSSOP-Perennial herbs up to 4 feet tall with dense spikes of 2 lipped, blue flowers native to north central United States. Anise hyssop has been widely distributed as a honey plant by Pellet Gardens. They reported it is more frequently visited by honeybees than any other of the 500 species in their gardens. It blooms from early summer until October. The honey is light amber with a good flavor. E. V. Stansbury, Runnels, Iowa, obtains large surpluses of anise hyssop honey from a several acre patch which he has developed from seed. After careful observation, he has concluded that his bees visit no other flowers while this species is in bloom. Giant catnip common in the northeaster states is much visited by honey­bees.

PUSSY WILLOWS-The pussy willow is very valuable for spring stimulation