Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)

A small bush that bears attractive summer foliage with creamy-white flowers appearing in mid-summer. Appears in wetlands and has high value as a honey plant.

• Mature Height: 5-15 feet
• Mature Spread: 5-15 feet
• Hardiness Zone: 5 to 10
• Soil Type: heavy clay, loamy clay, loam
• Soil Condition: wet, tolerates wet, moist, well drained
• Attracts Wildlife: songbirds, upland birds & game
• Exposure: full sun
• Usage: wetland restoration, ornamental, wildlife planting, wildlife cover
• Form: small shrub
• Growing Speed: fast, medium
• Value to bees: A dependable July honey plant

Seven-Son (eptacodium miconioides)

A small hard-to-find tree for the landscape or front yard. Recently discovered in Asia, this non­ invasive plant is now extinct in its native land due to development.

• Grows 20· tall and 15' wide.
• Blooms in the fall! It is a pollinator magnet and is heavily visited by honeybees, native bees, bumble bees and migrating Monarch butterflies!
• Fast growing and blooms after only 2 years.
• The white fragrant flowers last for weeks before revealing vivid red, fan-like bracts, which make it look like the plant is blooming again in a completely different color. Peeling bark adds winter interest.
• No serious pests or diseases and grows in zones 5-9. It is adaptable to most soils but does not bloom well in shade.

Black Gum, Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica)

Beautiful native trees with excellent and the most consistent fall color of all species. Excellent landscape tree due to outstanding summer and fall foliage

• Mature Height: 30-50 feet
• Mature Spread: 20-30 feet
• Hardiness Zone: 3 to 9
• Soil Type: loamy clay, loam, sandy loam
• Soil Condition: tolerates wet , moist, well drained, tolerates dry
• Attracts Wildlife: songbirds
• Exposure: full Sun , partial shade
• Usage: wetland restoration, ornamental, wildlife cover
• Form: medium tree, small tree
• Growing Speed: medium slow
• Value to bees: undetermined. A southern cousin to this tree provides a consistent major honey crop ; some Beekeepers claim a major honey crop can be obtained in Michigan too!
  

Little Leaf Linden (Tilia cordata)

A dependable June bloomer, commonly used as a landscape or street tree. 

• Native Range: Europe, southwestern Asia
• Zone: 3 to 7
• Height: 50  to 70  feet
• Spread: 35  to 50  feet
• Bloom Time:  June
• Bloom Description: pale yellow
• Sun: full sun to part shade
• Water: medium
•  Maintenance: low
• Suggested Use: shade tree, street tree, flowering tree
• Flower: showy, fragrant
• Attracts: large numbers of native bees, bumble bees, honey bees, and butterflies.
• Fruit: showy
• Tolerate: drought

Tulip Popular (Liriodendron tulipifera)

• Large and fast-growing shade tree: 70 feet to 100 feet, give it space to grow.
• A native tree, they can produce a large honey crop.
• They prefer deep, moist soil but are quite adaptable. Plant in full sun.
• Yellow-green-orange tulip-like flowers in early summer are carried high on the branches.

Tree Lilac (Syringa reticulata)

• Zone: 3 to 7
• Height: 20 feet
• Spread: 15
• Bloom Time: May to June
• Bloom Description: creamy white
• Sun: full sun to part shade
• Water: medium
• Maintenance: low
• Suggested Use: street tree, flowering tree
• Flower: showy, fragrant
• Attracts: hummingbirds, butterflies
• Other: winter interest
• Tolerate: deer, clay soil
• Bees: native and honey bees 

American Basswood (Tilia americana)

Basswoods provide the most nectar of any plant or tree known in the U.S.

• Height of mature tree: 60' to 80'
• Best for planting at the edge of your yard or in a park where it will have space to grow.
• Growth: Medium to fast depending on soil conditions. Prefers deep, moist, rich soil, but also grows in dry, heavy soil. Likes sun or part shade.
• Flowers: Very fragrant flowers around July 4. Starts to flower at 10-12 years old; will live 100 years or more. Does not flower every year.
• Other info: Native from Maine to Florida, west to the Dakotas.

Pussy Willow (Salix discolor)

A native small tree or shrub, it is one of the most significant early-spring sources of pollen and nectar for Honey and Native bees. Together with red maples, they produce the majority of

• the early-spring resources our bees need to build up after winter.
• They prefer wet soil and are often found along the margins of wetlands. They will grow well on upland sites, too.
• Zones 2-9, plant in full sun, but this is not a good landscape plant, it is a rain-garden or marginal­ area plant.
• Willows are male or female. Male willows, the ones with the attractive pussy-toes, produce pollen and nectar, while females produce only nectar. Both are valuable to bees! We cannot say which you'll receive, so buy several!

Sargent Crabapple (Malus Sargentii)

A mid to late-May blooming crabapple. Excellent as a landscape plant or accent piece, or planted as a wildlife hedge. Blooms within a year or two of planting.

• Size of mature tree: A dwarf tree, 10’ tall x 10’ wide. Easily pruned to shape.
• Growth: Medium to fast. Tolerant of most soils.
• Flowers: Red buds open to a fragrant white flower. Will remain in bloom for at least two weeks.
• Very attractive to native bees and honey bees. Flowers set bright red fruit 1/3 to 1/2 inch in diameter that remain on the tree throughout the winter or until devoured by hungry robins and cedar waxwings.
• Other info: No known serious pests or diseases. Not attractive to Japanese beetles. Our Sargent Crabapples are propagated from seed and are not grafted so they remain true to name. Na1ve to Japan but not considered invasive.