[Pollinator] Oregano for Bees?

[Peter Bernhardt]

Some of you may remember that, several years ago, someone was asking about the best nectar and pollen sources for bees among garden plants.  I replied to the question but do not recall what I wrote.  There is something I've noticed in my own front garden the past two weeks that may be of interest.


At least 7 years ago I planted greek oregano (Origanum vulgaris subsp. hirtum) in the front rockery.  The annual flowering of this perennial cultivar didn't impress me much as I kept picking young stems for the kitchen, over the years, and this suppressed flowering.  This season, though, I didn't use it much and we've had so much rain that its summer-flowering has been explosive (see photos).  I've been surprised by intense and continuous visitation by bees from 7 AM until the evening.  This includes a wide variety of native species (some unfamiliar) as well as feral honeybees.  In fact, I've seen more honeybees on the plants in the last week than I've seen on anything else in the garden for the past five years.  It also appears popular with drone flies (Eristalis). Of course, we all know that European members of the mint family are well-visited by bees but my common thyme (Thymus vulgaris) didn't receive so much attention over a month ago and the pot of hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis), now in bloom, seems largely ignored.


It's easy to grow, tolerates very fast drainage, poor soils and comes back after summer droughts. All it seems to want is full sun. While we are all encouraged to grow native I wonder if there is a place for it in pollinator gardens?  If not, the leaves taste good in a lot of Mediterranean dishes and you can always dry it for winter use.


Peter
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