I drew up a planting plan for garden beds at our elementary school. I suggested Mexican Heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia) against the sidewalk, since we're in the Houston area, get TONS of reflected heat from the concrete, and this little plant seems to be tough enough to take those conditions. One of the teachers said, "Oh! That plant attracts too many bees."
Have any of you ever heard anything like that or had that kind of experience? I've never noticed that Mexican Heather, or any other cuphea in my garden, for that matter, seems to attract any more bee activity than any other flower. Some plants, like Bottlebrush, really are full of bees when they bloom, and I wouldn't put a Bottlebrush in a school garden; but since I haven't had a bad bee experience with a cuphea, it seems safe to me. (I did tell the teacher that almost any flower is bound to attract bees. That's kind of the way things work. :) )
Let me know if you've seen Mexican Heather be overly popular with bees, please!!! Thanks.
Mexican Heather & Too Many Bees?
Mexican heather is great, especially for the conditions you mentioned. I give it a six on a scale of 1-10 for flowers attracting bees (about the same as roses). 10 being lavender/butterfly bush/bottle brush.
For the conditions you mentioned and with less bee attracting, try hardy trailing iceplant
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1928/
Never seen a bee on it. Takes a ton of heat. It is a drought tolerant, long blooming perennial. Very hardy, with some invasiveness issues.
My Mex Heather is a bee magnet, maybe use it, but not near the sidewalk.