If you came to our discovery day recently you would have seen Marjorie and her plant stall. Every year Neil and Marjorie kindly donate plants to sell. Not only that but they give away their top tips for wildlife friendly gardening. I asked Marjorie to write a little bit so we could share it. Here it is! Thanks Marjorie...
Flowers for all seasons
It's vital to provide flowers throughout the year. Single flowers are best so the nectar and pollen is accessible
Bees are most active from March to September, but overwintering queens and workers may emerge on warm days in winter, too. It's also a good idea to have at least two nectar- or pollen-rich plants in flower at any one time during this period. The nectar feeds the adult bee, while the pollen is collected to feed the young. You can never have too many!
Spring flowers
Bluebell, bugle, crab apple, daffodil, flowering cherry and currant, forget-me-nots, hawthorn, pulmonaria, rhododendron, rosemary, thrift and viburnum.
pulmonaria (liverwort)
Early-summer flowers
Aquilegia, astilbe, campanula, comfrey, delphinium, everlasting sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius), fennel, foxglove, hardy geranium, potentilla, snapdragon, stachys, teasel, thyme, verbascum.
aquilegia
Late-summer flowers
Angelica, aster, buddleia, cardoon, cornflower, dahlia (single-flowered), eryngium, fuchsia, globe thistle, heather, ivy, lavender, penstemon, scabious, sedum, Verbena bonariensis.
bumble bee on sedum spectabile
Winter flowers
crocus and other bulbs, hellebore, winter heather
helleborus foetidus
Ivy
the flowers provide late nectar for bees and other insects. The berries provide winter food for birds.