Garden plants for wildlife: Five autumn classics

The nights may be closing in with unseemly haste, but flower borders can still pack a punch for another six weeks or so, both in terms of colour and also the wildlife that visits.

So, here are five plants in my garden this week that I consider to be some of the stars of autumn, including different types suitable for all sorts of outside spaces.

In no particular order:

1. Joe Pye Weed Eupatorium maculatum

The transatlantic cousin of our own Hemp-agrimony, each stem growing up to 2.2m (7 foot) tall, topped by a froth of deep pink flowers. Once the preserve of larger gardens, there is now a cultivar called Baby Joe that only grows to 1 metre (3 feet), so much more suitable for smaller spaces. It can take a bit of shade, but in sunshine will be a magnet for bees and butterflies, such as this Brimstone. I grow Hemp-agrimony as well, which isn't quite so pink or dramatic, but is still a lovely garden plant with plenty of insect pulling-power.

2. Caryopteris x clandonensis

It has the common name of Bluebeard, but most garden centres use the scientific name. It is about the size of a lavender, and is a small, neat woody plant that only grows about 60cm (2 foot) high. It is so easy to manage - all you do is trim it hard in spring, back to a couple of buds on each stem. It only first comes into flower at the end of August with blue flowers; some cultivars have bright green foliage creating a wonderful combination. Great for bees and butterflies, such as this Large White.

Grow in a free draining soil in full sun. And to increase your stock of to produce new plants to give to friends and family, it is realy easy to take cuttings of non flowering stems at any point during the growing season.

3. Dahlia

Named after a Mr Dahl, a Swedish botanist, dahlias originally come from Mexico but have been bred into an incredible range of forms and colours. However, only those that still have all the gubbins in the middle of the flower - the beating heart of nectar and pollen - are of any use for wildlife. This one is part of the Bishop series - this is the Bishop of Leicester is his pale pink regalia, but if you want more of a colour kick, the Bishop of Llandaff is paint-box red.

Dahlias are incredibly easy to grow, including in pots - buy tubers in spring, don't put plants out untila fter the frosts, and all you'll need to do is water and feed regularly. You can then store the tubers somewhere frost-free overwinter and go again next spring. Be aware that dahlia foliage is snack of choice for snails, so requires some after-dark pick-and-chuck sessions to keep your plants safe.

4. Iceplant Hylotelephium spectabile

If you think this looks like a Sedum, you'd be right, but it's now been given a new name, whether it likes it or not! Hailing originally from China and Korea, this is one of the most famous autumn butterfly attractors in the garden, although I find it does best when several plants are grown together. Red Admirals in particular seem to love it, but bees and hoverflies do, too, and the photo below shows a drone-fly (a type of hoverfly - see my blog last week) and a Honeybee together, showing how similar the two are in size and shape. 

There is a readily available hybrid called Hylotelephium Herbstfreude/Autumn Joy, which is great for bees but not so good for butterflies. Instead, search for spectabile, which include cultivars such as Brilliant, Iceberg and Carl, and the even pinker Lisa. Grow in a sunny position in free-draining soil, where it will reach about  45cm (1.5 feet) tall. The seedheads look great left standing through the frosts.

5. Helianthus Lemon Queen

This is a perennial sunflower, rather different in looks to normal annual sunflowers, but just as great for wildlife. It grows to 2m (6 feet) tall or just over, and clumps up year after year to give a great show. It prefers quite a rich soil and definitely likes the sun if it is to flower well, when it will attract all sorts of pollinators such as this bumblebee.

With plants like these, you can keep the buzz alive for weeks to come.