Italian bugloss
Robust bugloss with brilliant blue flowers on field edges and roadsides; good nectar and pollen for honey bees in late spring and early summer.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0.5-1.5 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Italian bugloss is a showy, coarsely hairy plant, common in the Mediterranean basin and Anatolia on field edges, between vines and in orchards, on fallow land and along roadsides. Its sky-blue flowers have medium-length tubes, and honey bees reach the nectar easily. Being drought-tolerant, it keeps flowering even when other plants begin to turn yellow; in this respect it is a valuable bridge between the spring flow and summer.
Flowering
It flowers over a long period from April to July, depending on locality and altitude. Visits are heaviest in the morning and before noon.
Honey and pollen
It is not produced as a monofloral honey; it contributes to mixed highland and lowland honeys. Pollen is also collected. Like other members of the family it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
Note for the beekeeper
With its deep taproot it establishes well in dry bee gardens and on banks. Garden cultivars are also visited by bees; it can spread by self-seeding.