Earlier in the summer the bees here seemed to like S. Lavender Dilly Dilly, although as the name suggests its the purply/lavender end of the range of blues rather than a true blue, and it's quite big (about 1m high and wide by this time of year, from a fairly hard mid-late spring prune). They've abandoned it now in favour of Caryopteris.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I have Blue Monrovia, bees seem to like that. They like Nachtvlinder too though I see you've tried that. I find my bees seem to like hot lips the best. They aren't interested in Heatwave Glimmer at all, but then again it's planted with allium summer beauty so maybe they like that better?
Slowly building a wildlife garden, in a new build in East Yorkshire.
@Fire no, mine isn't. Flops all over the place like Nachtvlinder does. To be fair its only a couple of years old so could stiffen up as it develops a more woody base, but I don't think it will ever be as upright as hot lips or heatwave glimmer.
Slowly building a wildlife garden, in a new build in East Yorkshire.
For me it’s So Cool Pale Blue (see my ‘Star Plant’) but for the bees it’s Amistad that is constantly buzzing, while the red shrubbies are ignored. All salvias are shunned when the bee and hawkmoth magnet agastaches are in flower, though.
Capricious bees? Or do Spanish bees simply have different tastes?
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
There is definitely a 'bee hierarchy' of prefered plants. Amistad, allium and agastache seem to be near the top (maybe they work their way through the alphabet )
Do you grow agastache as annuals each year @Nollie ?
Perennial, when they allow it, Fire. Black Adder mostly disappears over winter, but Blue Boa and Blue Fortune come back. Some of the orange shrubby agastaches are reliably perennial and of those Tangerine Dream is the toughest and most vigorous. I prefer the brighter orange squash colour of Tango though.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
I added a few So Cool Purple plants this year and they have been great. Thick, in bloom for a long time, still going strong, and with many insect visitors esp hoverflies (it's true that other plants get more attention when in full flower, though). It remains to be seen if they'll overwinter. Google says they are only hardy to -5 or -8 or so because they're weak Australian-bred things.
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To be fair its only a couple of years old so could stiffen up as it develops a more woody base, but I don't think it will ever be as upright as hot lips or heatwave glimmer.
Capricious bees? Or do Spanish bees simply have different tastes?