This week, Direct Marketing Officer: Publications Emma Lacy guest blogs about what you can do in your garden to help pollinators, and yourself, get the most out flowers and the food they provide.

With summer drawing to a close we enter the height of pollinator season. But our bee, hoverfly and butterfly friends don’t stop feeding over autumn. As novice beekeepers, my partner and I have been working hard to make our garden a pollen and nectar haven year long. We also plant a lot of our garden based on things we can eat too, and even better, help feed birds as well. Based on what I’ve been learning I thought I’d share with you five plants that are edible to bees, birds and us into the autumn months. 

Sunflower

The happy sunflower is a plant that brings a smile to my face and a hint of nostalgia too. This big headed flower is a must grow for any child, which is why we recently sent our family members a pack of seeds to grow their own sunflowers. These plants are also the king of the botanic world! Standing at up to 4m tall and with a flower bigger than your face it’s hard not to be impressed.

But the sunflower is so much more than just a competition with your family and friends (we’ve really enjoyed seeing your competition entries by the way). It’s also, unexpectedly for most, a great source of food for not only birds and bees, but for us too.

You can use nearly every part of the sunflower. The head of the flower can be cooked up like a Jerusalem artichoke, the petals and stork can be used in a salad, you can throw the seeds out for the birds, and just by the act of growing this royal specimen, you’re helping a wide range of pollinators get the food they need in the early autumn months.

(Photo: Flickr creative commons, Andy Hay)

Lavender

Up there as one of my favourite smells of all time (beaten only by the smell of the tomato plant), various lavender species can be seen blooming into early autumn. Our recent honey harvest was filled with notes of lavender and buddleia and it makes for a lovely light treat. It’s clear that bees love these purple buds, but the seeds of the lavender flower also make a delicious lunch for our bird friends. You’ll also see butterflies and other pollinators making use of these hardy shrubs.

We too can get a huge amount of these spectacular plants, whether drying the lavender out for potpourri, using the flowers to decorate cakes, or extracting the essence for cosmetics and baking. Once the birds and the bees have had their fill, why not use what’s left in your kitchen?

(Photo: Flickr creative commons, Mary)

Honeysuckle

This beautiful and quirky climber looks great in a planter, and in baking. Yes the flowers are edible on these too, but don’t eat the berries as they are poisonous to humans. Birds, however, will munch these up, and apparently the occasional southern hawker will have a nibble too (see below).

Pollinators of honeysuckle include elephant hawk moths, honeybees and bumblebees. I really hope that we can get an elephant hawk moth on our plants soon as I’ve never seen one up close and they really are stunning.

(Photo: Flickr creative commons, Dun.can)

Lemon balm

Our recent discovery of self-seeding lemon balm came as a pleasant surprise in the garden. We had already planted some at the front of our house as we heard it was great for our bees, but mowing the lawn we could suddenly smell a beautiful lemon scent. Confused by the smell I carried on pulling up what I assumed to be weeds, only for my partner to say “Can you smell lemon balm?” On closer inspection there were three small lemon balm plants. We attempted to save them, and one survived in a little pot. It’s now growing in abundance around the base of our beehive. The bees are buzzing for it.

It’s not only good for the bees though. Goldfinches love the seed produced by this fragrant mint species.

And, as this can become invasive, you can pick it and use it for your culinary and medicinal exploits without feeling bad. I myself will be popping it in some Pimms this weekend.

“Oooo! I think I’ve spotted some delicious lemon balm! Nom!” - Nigel Blake (rspb-images.com)

Broad beans

Another delicious treat for us! A broad bean salad is a summer favourite. But you might need to get to them before the birds do. Pigeons, sparrows and blackbirds seem to love these as much as I do.

The flowers also help out pollinators like honeybees and garden bees. Many bees’ proboscises aren’t long enough to pollinate broad bean flowers, so they may well cut a hole in the back and get to the nectar that way instead. This can be a nuisance but at least your feeding an important population.

(Photo: Flickr creative commons, Rob)

Thanks for reading, and a gentle reminder that if you planted your sunflowers, be sure to enter the competition by submitting a photo of you standing next to the tallest and what it measures. You can send your entries to comps@rspb.org.uk or upload them to Wild Challenge by going to www.rspb.org.uk/sunflowers. You can also find the terms and conditions there too.

Enjoy the rest of summer!

Emma