Good grief! I thought mine was bad. I'm not sure that's a montana. It looks like a different leaf shape. I haven't trained the terniflora so it's gone up, but I think you could try to keep it low. As it's a group three, and cut back each year, you can train it as you wish.
I think this is a lovely (long) video on plants for pollinators. Most of them are commonly grown in the UK (not all) and grown by people on the forum. Waffle ends and pics start around min 4. All very encouraging. The UK has a different set of wildlife, often benefitting from the same plants (or genus) as those featured.
Featured heavily: dahlias, lantana, gallardia, all kinds of salvias, cosmos, sunflowers, echinacea, buddleia (butterfly bush), asters, tithonia, goldenrod, coreopsis, zinnias, sedum, many different types of herbs.
I want to add more pollinator plants (natives and non-natives) next year to my gardens. The linarias of all colours have gone great guns all year and are still covered in blooms.
Important that ants, beetles, flies, birds and lots of other types of critters are vital for some pollination too (Not Just Bees!)
This is a good video on the importance of planting for local, specialist pollinators in your area. The plants she mentions are relevant to her part of New York state but her plea is global.
Many specialist pollinators or their larva can only breed or eat on one native plant. Without that one plant, there will be no polinator.
We often think of "pollinators" as generally bees and butterflies. However wasps, beetles, ants, hoverflies, mosquitoes, midges and moths are vital pollinators. In other countries birds, bats and even lizards also fullfil this role. Some plants are wind pollinated.
In Britain we have
6,500 species of true fly
270 species hoverfly
over 250 species of solitary wasp
2,500 species of Lepidoptera in Britain. Less than 60 of these are butterflies, the rest are moths
4,500 species of beetle
24 bumblebee species (social)
260 species of solitary bee - around 67 species of mining bee that live underground
People often think about "bees" as honey bees or they don't know what
kind of bee they are seeing. Or people don't know
exactly what kind of pollen those specialists really want. Or people
think they see "bees" which are in fact flies, wasps or something else. So learning to improve ID skills s really helpful in choosing what to grow.
It really pays to find out more about the specifics of what is going on in your area. Which pollinators and their plants are running into trouble or have disappeared locally?
@LunarSea I have been in touch with Fire. She is okay and has stepped back from posting on the forum in order to concentrate on her health issues. I and I'm sure many others miss her posts and wish her well.
@LunarSea I have been in touch with Fire. She is okay and has stepped back from posting on the forum in order to concentrate on her health issues. I and I'm sure many others miss her posts and wish her well.
Thanks @Woodgreen. I understand. I knew she was having some treatment. Hope she's back here fit & well soon.
Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border. I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
Posts
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
I have been in touch with Fire. She is okay and has stepped back from posting on the forum in order to concentrate on her health issues.
I and I'm sure many others miss her posts and wish her well.
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful