I think a lot of the bedding plants you buy in garden centres etc have been treated with various insecticides, including neonicotinoids, which will have an effect on any bees or other insects visiting the flowers. In which case it might be just as well that many of these flowers are not producing much pollen or nectar to attract them.
Firefly - if you stick with species plants as nut points out, you can't go far wrong. You can have lovely displays with hardy annuals such as cornflower, corncockle and wild poppies. You get lots of colour and the bees get their pollen
I claim to be a 'wildlife gardener' but the truth is I can't be asked to piddle about with flower borders. So most of my garden is herbs and veg and wildlife.........
Comfrey and nettles for fertiliser - bees and butterflies love them.
Rosemary, lavender and thyme - total bee fest
Sadly the slugs like the Sweet Cicely, bit of a problem there as the hedgehog doesn't like his slugs too salty, very health conscious.
Calendula for the hoverflies and a 'lawn' full of clover.
My garden looks a mess but I love it. Apparently bees and butterflies favour indigenous species Firefly, I think they just like the simple life as do I.
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it." Sir Terry Pratchett
I am sure I read or maybe it was on TV but a recent study showed that bees have no preference for native or cultivated flowers just that they prefer simple flowers, with easy access to pollen & nectar. I think as long as you have a good mix in your garden both you & the wildlife will be happy, but I take the points that others have made about some highly hybridised plants.
in last week's GW, there was a feature on which plants are favoured by pollinators in the UK. The National Botanic Garden of Wales have DNA barcoded all the native plants in the UK and using honey sampling, they are able to tell exactly which plants in the area that bees foraging from. This research seems to suggest that the bees at the National Botanic Garden of Wales chose natives strongly over others. Bees rejected the wide range of plants offered on the botanic garden site and chose only 11% of what was on offer, going further and using more energy to forage on indigenous wild plants. Favourites include gorse, willow, hawthorn, bluebells, oak and dandelion. The NBGW is opening up honey sampling to bee keepers around the UK so they can sequence the samples and see which plants their bees are foraging from. The project is running for the next two years.
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Thanks.It seems all a bit nuts to me.
Lots of helpful information here
https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/conservation-biodiversity/wildlife/encourage-wildlife-to-your-garden/plants-for-pollinators
Gardeners World website lists Rozanne as good for pollinators. I know bees always like mine. http://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/plant-finder/geranium-rozanne/
I think a lot of the bedding plants you buy in garden centres etc have been treated with various insecticides, including neonicotinoids, which will have an effect on any bees or other insects visiting the flowers. In which case it might be just as well that many of these flowers are not producing much pollen or nectar to attract them.
Firefly - if you stick with species plants as nut points out, you can't go far wrong. You can have lovely displays with hardy annuals such as cornflower, corncockle and wild poppies. You get lots of colour and the bees get their pollen
Thanks everyone for the info. I will go and read up. I hadn't thought about garden centre plants being treated with neonics.
I claim to be a 'wildlife gardener' but the truth is I can't be asked to piddle about with flower borders. So most of my garden is herbs and veg and wildlife.........
Comfrey and nettles for fertiliser - bees and butterflies love them.
Rosemary, lavender and thyme - total bee fest
Sadly the slugs like the Sweet Cicely, bit of a problem there as the hedgehog doesn't like his slugs too salty, very health conscious.
Calendula for the hoverflies and a 'lawn' full of clover.
My garden looks a mess but I love it. Apparently bees and butterflies favour indigenous species Firefly, I think they just like the simple life as do I.
I am sure I read or maybe it was on TV but a recent study showed that bees have no preference for native or cultivated flowers just that they prefer simple flowers, with easy access to pollen & nectar. I think as long as you have a good mix in your garden both you & the wildlife will be happy, but I take the points that others have made about some highly hybridised plants.
You're right Iain, the bees don't care where the plant originated
My big reason for natives is as the food plant for the larval stage of all those insects looking for somewhere to lay their eggs
In the sticks near Peterborough
Hi all,
in last week's GW, there was a feature on which plants are favoured by pollinators in the UK. The National Botanic Garden of Wales have DNA barcoded all the native plants in the UK and using honey sampling, they are able to tell exactly which plants in the area that bees foraging from. This research seems to suggest that the bees at the National Botanic Garden of Wales chose natives strongly over others. Bees rejected the wide range of plants offered on the botanic garden site and chose only 11% of what was on offer, going further and using more energy to forage on indigenous wild plants. Favourites include gorse, willow, hawthorn, bluebells, oak and dandelion. The NBGW is opening up honey sampling to bee keepers around the UK so they can sequence the samples and see which plants their bees are foraging from. The project is running for the next two years.
Gardeners' World : http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08wqzp2/gardeners-world-2017-episode-15 (from minute 30)
BBC News : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-39003201