Attracting blue-banded bees to your garden involves creating an inviting environment that addresses their specific needs. Planting a diverse array of bee-friendly flowers — especially those with blue or violet hues like lavender, rosemary, and blue salvia — can be particularly enticing to blue-banded bees. Providing a water source, such as a shallow dish with rocks for landing pads, allows these solitary bees to safely quench their thirst.

Additionally, avoiding the use of pesticides and cultivating a chemical-free garden ensures a safe space for blue-banded bees to forage and thrive. Offering nesting sites, such as bee hotels or areas of undisturbed, sandy soil, encourages them to establish their homes nearby. These native bees nest in shallow burrows, so leaving pockets of bare, sunny ground can make a big difference.

Recommended Plants for Blue-Banded Bees

Certain flowering plants are especially attractive to blue-banded bees due to their colour, nectar production, and tubular flower shape. Some top choices include:

• Agastache ‘Tangerine’ (pictured) – A hardy, drought-tolerant perennial with vibrant orange-pink flowers that bloom through the warmer months. The tubular flowers are a favourite among blue-banded bees.

• Lavender – A classic choice. Its strong scent and purple blooms are irresistible to a wide range of pollinators.

• Salvia ‘Mystic Spires Blue’ – With long flowering spikes and deep blue hues, it’s a magnet for native bees.

• Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’ – A great understory plant with soft purple flowers that bloom in shady spots.

• Scaevola (Fan Flower) – A tough, ground-hugging plant with purple fan-shaped flowers, commonly used in garden beds and pots.

• Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower) – A stunning perennial that not only attracts blue-banded bees but also supports other native pollinators.

• Grevillea ‘Pink Pixie’ – A compact, bird- and bee-friendly shrub with profuse pink flowers.

For something soft and structural, purple and pink flowering grasses and perennials like Gaura lindheimeri, Verbena rigida, and Westringia hybrids are all great additions to a bee-supportive planting scheme.

Supporting Biodiversity Through Design

Attracting blue-banded bees is about more than just adding flowers — it’s about fostering biodiversity and creating a balanced garden ecosystem. By designing your garden with bees in mind, you’re not only helping protect native species but also enhancing the resilience, productivity, and beauty of your space.

Every small action makes a difference. Whether you’re planting a full native garden or simply adding a few bee-friendly pots to your balcony, your efforts help support the wellbeing of one of Australia’s most charming and important pollinators.