Bees love comfrey

…oh yes, they do. It may make a great plant feed, but leave it to flower, and the bees will go for it like there’s no tomorrow.

Comfrey is a great plant for the allotment. It’s one of the few non-edibles that you really must grow to ensure the success of everything else. I use it in so many ways. Hidden by the compost heap are three buckets stuffed full of comfrey leaves that rot into a liquid so strong you could retch when you smell it. It might stink, but it works wonders on all my fruiting vegetables.

But I must confess that at this time of year I grow a little weak and I leave three patches of the stuff on my plot to go to flower. Why? Well, the flowers are pretty, even though they mean the nutrient content of the plant is weakened (I have a 4th patch on standby to keep making the evil brews). And bees love them. The comfrey patches are seething with bumble bees at this time of year, and when bee species in this country are struggling terribly, that’s no bad thing.

2 Responses

Linda July 5, 2013

Awesome post I never grown it but want I think if I managed to get some I have some in the front garden and flower garden when I make it and some in the back near the compost bins for turning in to liquid gold for plants have a good weekend

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Summer Houses July 9, 2013

I have a lot of comfreys in my garden for some reason which do look nice when they flower, but they do seem to bring out the bees and i don’t like getting stuck.

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