5.2 Perennials

46
PERENNIALS
Dictamnus albus L.
burning bush, gasplant, dittany, fraxinella, fraxinelle
per. -50° to -21° C Jun 60-90 cm NP"
Value for honey and pollen: useful to bridge the June gap.
Notes: a favourite in the flower border of bygone days; purple flowers; full sun;
aromatic leaves; foliage emits an ethereal inflammable oil.
Doronicum plantagineum L.
leopard's bane, plantain leopard's bane, doronic plantain
per. -37° to -29° C May-Jun 120 cm NP 36
Notes: yellow sunflower-like flowers; sturdy and of easy culture.
Echinops exaltatus Schrad.
Russian globe thistle, dchinope de Russie
per. -37° to -29° C 90-360 cm
Value for honey: considered equally attractive as E. sphaerocephalus (globe thistle) 35 .
Notes: the best of any of the spp. in this genus for garden planting 95 ; compound blue
flower-heads.
Echinops ritro L.
small globe thistle, boulette azurite, petite boulette
per. -27° to -29° C 30-360 cm
Value for honey: considered equally attractive as E. shaerocephalus (globe thistle), but
is a more desirable ornamental.
Notes: smaller than most globe thistles; bright blue compound flowers.
Echinops sphaerocephalus L.
globe thistle, Chapman honey plant, great globe thistle, boulette azurde, boulette
commun
per. -37° to -29° C mid Jul-end Aug 90-240 cm
Value for honey: HP5 16 ; noted to be an excellent source in some areas 72 ; claimed to
be very valuable for N when grown experimentally in Man. in the late 1940'0; also
was grown on trail in N.Y. State by H. Chapman to prove its attractiveness (some
observers contended that bees only idled on the blossoms and collected little N) 72 .
Notes: grown as a forage crop in some countries; can be grown as a summer-time
apiary hedge if it is supported by two wires (dead stems can be left in position as a
winter windbreak) 35 ; sun and well-drained soil; may be listed in nursery catalogues, but
other spp. may be offered under this name; naturalized in local areas of N. America;
frequently cultivated and occasionally a volunteer plant on waste heaps, in fields and
other waste places, s. Que. and beyond Can. limits 23 .
Epilobium angustifolium L. 51
(syn. Chamaenerion angustifolium (L.) Scop.; Epilobium spicatum Lam.) 51
fireweed, rosebay willowherb, Indian pink, wickup, epilobe en dpi, osier de St. Antoine,
Antionette
per. -37° to-29° C Jul-Aug 2.5 m N(P)
Value for honey: HP5/6 16 ; exceptional HP of 1000 kg/ha recorded 17 ; H yield of 25-57
kg/colony/day 17 ; a 10 year average yield is likely to be a disappointing figure, since the
N flow is not dependable from year to year 2 ; N flow is heaviest during the hot
weather, when the air is clear, humid and still 17; N secretion is optimum at