Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Plants for bees but not for slugs

karenandjesslqEBf_shkarenandjesslqEBf_sh Posts: 18
in Plants
Hi, could anyone advise on bedding plants that will attract bees/butterflies but deter slugs?  Preferably perennial but annual will do, thank you  :)

«1

Posts

  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    The only one I can think of is Lavender which is a small evergreen shrub.  The best way to keep slugs away from your bedding plants is to put them in pots, raised on a table or displayed on an old ladder or to grow them in hanging baskets.  The bees will still be happy!
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Penstemons, I’m growing many more from cuttings and getting rid of some of the slug fodder. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    And the woody salvias.  Hot lips, in its various colours, Neon Pink. Veronicas. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Fuchsias
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Fran IOMFran IOM Posts: 2,872
    @karenandjesslqEBf_sh
    I have had an email from Gardeners' World in which they list and picture 20 slug free plants. Those that I have in my garden I can vouch for like those that others have recommended. 
    I would be willing to list them all for you or you can send me your email address by PM and I can forward the email. Either way no problem.  :)
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    The holy grail.  

    Slug resistant is one thing, "deter" is something else.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • TheGreenManTheGreenMan Posts: 1,957
    Euphorbias 
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    Toadflax is adored by bees and as it's more a weed it self seeds enough that you will always have it. There is a variety called Canon went which is a nice pink but it does seem to revert back to the more usual purple when it self seeds.

    Centranthus ruber is another weedy plant that the bees love and it will self seed. It comes in red, pink and white.  

    Echinops and eryngiums are love by bees and whilst they can be munched by slugs as little seedlings, they are very robust when a big bigger to the point where the odd leaf might get munched but they grow quickly enough that it doesn't affect them.

    Foxgloves are usually fine with slugs although I have had some damaged by them. They normally self seed enough to come back.

    Astrantia is another option that I've not witnessed any slug damage before.
  • karenandjesslqEBf_shkarenandjesslqEBf_sh Posts: 18
    Fran IOM said:
    @karenandjesslqEBf_sh
    I have had an email from Gardeners' World in which they list and picture 20 slug free plants. Those that I have in my garden I can vouch for like those that others have recommended. 
    I would be willing to list them all for you or you can send me your email address by PM and I can forward the email. Either way no problem.  :)
    Thank you Fran (and everyone else who has answered, it's really useful to get everyone's ideas!).  I did get the email about slug free plants, but wanted to include plants for pollinators also, and if possible perennial plants  :)
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I can vouch for no slug damage as said above on fuchsia, Astrantia and foxgloves. All good for bees. 
    Verbena Bonariensis  doesn’t get chewed. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

Sign In or Register to comment.