Bee Plant is a fast-growing species that appreciates a little extra water. Although the description on Calscape says it takes partial shade and is low-water, in our experience, it really needs part-sun in order to bloom reliably (even inland), and it gets pretty droopy if it doesn’t have almost constant moisture. As the name implies, bees are drawn to its diminutive, ruby flowers, which blossom profusely in spring (longer with regular irrigation). Like Hedge Nettle (Stachys bullata) it forms colonies, but unlike Hedge Nettle, it spreads very slowly, so won’t crowd out other plants in its vicinity.
You’ll see some die-back during the height of summer, but given enough moisture, dormancy will be partial. A little trim at the beginning of fall will produce fresh, leafy growth as temperatures cool.
The mother seed for our Bee Plant was gathered from a site located in Griffith Park (according to the Theodore Payne Foundation’s Genny Arnold, who generously gave some to LANPS) so they are uniquely adapted to the L.A. area, particularly to those communities in the vicinity of the Santa Monica Mountains’ eastern edge (Los Feliz; Glendale; and Burbank).
