For bumblebees I’d also highly recommend lupine (make sure to track down a native variety, and don’t plant lupine in the eastern hemisphere where it’s highly invasive), followed by fireweed (native to most of the temperate northern hemisphere), although these both require a decent amount of space to grow properly. If you’re balcony gardening, bees of all kinds seem to enjoy many flowering herbs, such as mint and lavender, as well as many vegetables after they bolt, such as the brassica family, meaning you can easily grow plants for both your and their use!
Lastly, don’t forget that bees aren’t the only pollinators: flies, wasps, and beetles are all pollinators too! Attracting them to your garden may sound unappealing, but that’s only because some especially gross and ugly species give the whole group a bad rap. Most wasps are not aggressive, and many fly species are actually really cute and super fun to watch, such as bee mimics and hover flies. These pollinators tend to prefer large clumps of small flowers, such as yarrow, coriander (bolted cilantro), parsley, and carrot (again, lots of plants also edible for humans!) Attracting bees is great, but it was only once I started growing plants for these other pollinator types that I began to notice a true ecosystem forming, with spiders, dragonflies, and birds coming by to prey on the flies and wasps.
More info on plants for pollinators:
For bumblebees I’d also highly recommend lupine (make sure to track down a native variety, and don’t plant lupine in the eastern hemisphere where it’s highly invasive), followed by fireweed (native to most of the temperate northern hemisphere), although these both require a decent amount of space to grow properly. If you’re balcony gardening, bees of all kinds seem to enjoy many flowering herbs, such as mint and lavender, as well as many vegetables after they bolt, such as the brassica family, meaning you can easily grow plants for both your and their use!
Lastly, don’t forget that bees aren’t the only pollinators: flies, wasps, and beetles are all pollinators too! Attracting them to your garden may sound unappealing, but that’s only because some especially gross and ugly species give the whole group a bad rap. Most wasps are not aggressive, and many fly species are actually really cute and super fun to watch, such as bee mimics and hover flies. These pollinators tend to prefer large clumps of small flowers, such as yarrow, coriander (bolted cilantro), parsley, and carrot (again, lots of plants also edible for humans!) Attracting bees is great, but it was only once I started growing plants for these other pollinator types that I began to notice a true ecosystem forming, with spiders, dragonflies, and birds coming by to prey on the flies and wasps.