J.R. Johnson

A plant is running a casino in my yard. Also, yesterday was World Bee Day, so let’s talk about the intersection of the two.

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As I’ve mentioned before, lawns are a pain. Right now our lawn is an interesting mix of grass, ground ivy, and wild strawberry, with a few dandelions thrown in for good measure. It actually looks quite pretty, with green grass and purple, white and yellow flowers.  

The ground ivy, or Creeping Charlie, is particularly good at spreading.

It’s also good at bringing in the bees. Right now there are several big bumblebees happily flitting from flower to purple flower. Watching them fly, I noticed that they bounce from plant to plant before settling on a flower. Curious, I did a bit of research.

It turns out that Creeping Charlie is playing those bees like a fiddle.

“Creeping Charlie employs a unique strategy to attract some bee visitors, such as sweat bees, bumble bees, and honey bees, that is tied into how the flower produces nectar.  The flowers have a unique strategy for rewarding visitor pollinators, commonly referred to as the “lucky hit” strategy.  Creeping Charlie flowers produce an average of 0.3 microliters of nectar per flower, but the amount of nectar in any one flower varies greatly, ranging from 0.06 to 2.4 microliters. “

— Creeping Charlie: Management and Value to Pollinators | Turfgrass Science

Like the psychology of gambling, such random reward mechanisms keep those bees coming back for more. The good news is that on average, these flowers are worth the bees’ time and energy.

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I’m all for pollinator planting, but before you sign on to the Creeping Charlie train, let me say that it is considered invasive in many places and is most certainly difficult to remove.

“While Creeping Charlie could be a good nectar source for bees, we are not recommending that you let it take over your lawn.”

(It’s a bit late for that, but at least the bees and I can look on the bright side.)

Consider a turf alternative like this Bee blend, or plant clover instead. Bees love it, and they aren’t the only ones.

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