and would survive Ohio's winters and summers? Planting it close to the house so its roots could go too deep and hurt the house. Nothing that attracts bee's as I have small kids.

All flowers attract bees. As well they should, bees pollinate plants so we can have flowers. In the spring me and my 2 granddaughters would stand under the bradford pear and listen to the hum of thousands of bees. It was a great experience and no one got stung. The bees are to busy doing what they do to worry about your kids unless one of them tries to grab one. And then the life lesson ensues. Anyway back to your question. An althea would suit your needs.

Rose of Sharon and Forsythia come to mind.

These touchy-feely answers that respond to your "I have small kids" are great, but they don't really answer the question just in case you haven't mentioned that someone might be allergic or you have reason from family history to expect them become so. A life lesson might become a death lesson instead, so you might have a perfectly good reason to want to completely avoid helpful, nice, and mostly harmless bees that you haven't mentioned here.

Most flowers are gonna attract bees. If you absolutely mustn't have any bees at all, you'd better do as R Scott says and get fake plants instead. But you might get less bees if you planted something that flowers with a narrow long tube. Flowers like this are designed by nature to appeal to butterflies and hummingbirds, as both critters have long long tongues. This isn't foolproof though, as I've seen huge bumblebees drill their way into my fuchsias, and I've seen honeybees force their way inside softer flowers like honeysuckle and jasmine. The hummingbirds chase them off, but there still are some. Bumblebees don't swarm, and they are loud, slow and big, so they are easier to avoid.

I've never seen any kind of insects on my hydrangea blooms. I have no idea how they survive winters, I've never gardened anywhere that gets a serious cold. Any of the magellanica fuchsias should survive winters, but as I mentioned above, they may not be completely bee-proof. If you are willing to tolerate a few bees, there are some Dr. Griffith Buck roses that will take anything Ohio can throw at you with minimal care. Like almost all roses, they do have thorns on them, and your kids might get stuck if they are careless. All three of these plants are upright and have well-behaved roots.

These touchy-feely answers that respond to your "I have small kids" are great, but they don't really answer the question just in case you haven't mentioned that someone might be allergic or you have reason from family history to expect them become so. A life lesson might become a death lesson instead, so you might have a perfectly good reason to want to completely avoid helpful, nice, and mostly harmless bees that you haven't mentioned here.

Most flowers are gonna attract bees. If you absolutely mustn't have any bees at all, you'd better do as R Scott says and get fake plants instead. But you might get less bees if you planted something that flowers with a narrow long tube. Flowers like this are designed by nature to appeal to butterflies and hummingbirds, as both critters have long long tongues. This isn't foolproof though, as I've seen huge bumblebees drill their way into my fuchsias, and I've seen honeybees force their way inside softer flowers like honeysuckle and jasmine. The hummingbirds chase them off, but there still are some. Bumblebees don't swarm, and they are loud, slow and big, so they are easier to avoid.

I've never seen any kind of insects on my hydrangea blooms. I have no idea how they survive winters, I've never gardened anywhere that gets a serious cold. Any of the magellanica fuchsias should survive winters, but as I mentioned above, they may not be completely bee-proof. If you are willing to tolerate a few bees, there are some Dr. Griffith Buck roses that will take anything Ohio can throw at you with minimal care. Like almost all roses, they do have thorns on them, and your kids might get stuck if they are careless. All three of these plants are upright and have well-behaved roots.

A child's sweet sticky fingers and face from a candy bar would put him at more risk for a wasp sting than a flower garden full of honey bees. You don't want to isolate your kids from nature you want them to embrace it. Kids will get stung, it's your job to watch for allergic reactions and kiss the "boo boo" from the nasty wasp. As to plants that bloom and don't attract bees, all I can think of is Plastic fantastica. RScott