Ours gets drunken bumblebees too! But ours seems to die back every year, though it returns in the spring. Could it be that it just doesn't like our growing zone? (I think we're in 5.) I'm so glad to know it's a native -- I've been feeling vaguely guilty about planting it for several years now.
For a good shrub to attract bees, try Glossy Abelia. It's an old-time landscape bush that looks a little like a boxwood but is covered with myriads of small, whitish-pink, tubular blossoms, that release the fragrance of paradise and attract pollinators in swarms. Very popular in the Old-South Antebellum Plantations. One of my favorites, especially when mixed with Forsythia for contrast.
Not a native, but glossy abelia's definitely a "well-behaved immigrant." You see tons of 'em around here.
Alas, one cannot say the same for forsythia, which has rather invasive tendencies in the wrong climates--throws roots whenever stems touch the ground--and requires vigilance to keep in check. I b'lieve there's a clumping form, but it's a hard plant to get out of the ground once it's planted.
Spicebush is a great native alternative to forsythia--same yellow early-spring color, easy to grow, and hosts the spicebush swallowtail butterfly.
I love these plants. They are a rather amazing and hardy wildflower. I remember when I first saw them I fell in love with their unique puffy pollen centers.
It really is delightful to sit and watch bees and other pollinators wallowing all over them. We had a globe garlic at our farm in Mississippi that had similar effects, especially on bumble bees.
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Alas, one cannot say the same for forsythia, which has rather invasive tendencies in the wrong climates--throws roots whenever stems touch the ground--and requires vigilance to keep in check. I b'lieve there's a clumping form, but it's a hard plant to get out of the ground once it's planted.
Spicebush is a great native alternative to forsythia--same yellow early-spring color, easy to grow, and hosts the spicebush swallowtail butterfly.
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It really is delightful to sit and watch bees and other pollinators wallowing all over them. We had a globe garlic at our farm in Mississippi that had similar effects, especially on bumble bees.
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