We hear the plight of the bee on a regular basis, but it isn’t just bee’s that pollinate our flowers, fruit and veg crops. Hoverflies, Moths, Beetles, Butterflies and even Wasps are essential for pollination in the UK.

Almost all flowering plants are in some way attractive to pollinators, as if they weren’t, the plants would never have procreated and survived. There is an exception I should mention first though…

Aqualegia 'Nora Barlow'
This Aqualegia ‘Nora Barlow’ is a good example of a double flower thats difficult for pollinators to access

Double flowers. Double flowered plants are characterised by having extra petals and looking like a flower-with-a-flower. Most pollinators, particularly the larger ones like bumble bees, have trouble accessing the nectar. There are many double flowered varieties of flower, and at this time of the year there are lots of Dahlias on the market with this double-flowered trait.

Pollinators generally find more open flowers more easily accessible and this is reflected in some of the summer flowering plants I recommend for attracting them in with.

Echinacea: Open, large daisy-like flowers. Great for summer colour as well as bees!

Geraniums: When I say Geranium I’m talking about the hardy Geraniums you would find in a border. Geranium’s like ‘Rozanne’ for instance.

Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea): Tubular flowers, and many of them. I challenge you to find a foxglove without any bees on it on a bright summers day. They are biennial, so don’t live too long, but they do generally seed pretty freely and come up again and again.

Eryngium being visited by a bee

Sea holly (Eryngium): Spikey blue thistle-like flowers. Salt tolerant to a degree, hence the name. Beloved by bees and gardeners alike.

Erigeron karvinskianus: Sometimes known as ‘Mexican fleabane’, this is a great little do-er. Small diays like flowers sometimes white, sometimes pink tinged. Masses of flower and colour.

Salvia: Salvia’s, in particular Salvia’s with tall spikes of inflorescence like Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ are wonderful for attracting bees, hover flies and all sorts.

Ceanothus: Also known as Californian Lilac, it has beautiful blue, sometimes mauve blooms. It is the very definition of floriferous. These can get to a large size so read the label and note the height and spread when purchasing. Dwarf varieties are available.

Monarda ‘Cambridge Scarlet’: A favourite of mine for the cottage garden. Its common name is ‘Bee Balm’, and I tell you what, they certainly do love it.

That is just a small part of a large exhaustive list of pollinator-friendly plants I like, and use in the gardens I design and maintain. Wildlife is always on my mind when designing gardens, and I do my best to provide pollinator friendly plants to fit your aesthetic requirements.