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Once I started to engage in my garden, I soon found out that bees can still be out and about during winter and spring, especially when days reach 10c in temperature. Providing sources of pollen and nectar for any bees that are active during the winter months goes a long way in keeping them fed until all the juicy nectar rich flowers start to bloom again.
There are very few winter flowering plants in the wild in Britain, so our gardens are the best place to create an environment where bees can hide and feast throughout winter and spring. With your help active winter bees can avoid starvation.
Bees need open flowers with easy access to pollen and nectar. Unfortunately bedding plants such as winter pansies have no pollen or nectar or bees can't access it.
Here are eight flowering plants you could include in your garden to help bees survive the winter and spring. They also add colour to your garden during the coldest months which will improve your mood.
Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) carpets the ground at the start of the year with bright, buttercup-like flowers and dark green leaves. They like damp darker spots and are ideal for naturalising under trees and shrubs.
Flowers: January - February
There are several winter-flowering varieties of Clematis cirrhosa, including 'Freckles' and 'Wisley Cream'. They both have glossy, dark green leaves and produce small, pale flowers from late autumn.
Flowers: December - February
Hahonia's clusters of often scented winter flowers are a magnet for bees. The leaves are leathery and evergreen, and flowers are usually followed by dark purple berries. Varieties 'Apollo' and 'Buckland' would make great additions to any winter garden.
Flowers: November - March
The native primrose to Britain is Primula vulgaris which blooms from early March to May. It's a woodland flower, so perfect for naturalising under a tree or on a shady bank.
Flowers: March - May
I finally included a Strawberry tree in the garden last summer. It didn't appreciate the hot summer of 2022, but I did manage to save it after it started to go brown and cripsy.
The Stawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) is an evergreen tree or shrub with small, bell-shaped, creamy-white or pink flowers which show up in autumn. At the same time the red, strawberry-like fruits from the previous year's flowers ripen.
Flowers: September - November
Catkins appear before the leaves do in spring and are a magnet for bees. The catkins of Salix caprea 'Kilmarnock', are a magnet for the bumblebee queens.
Flowers: April - May
Popular varieties of Erica carnea include 'Adrienne Duncan', which is a spreading, dwarf, evergreen shrub with red flowers and 'Challenger', which has magenta flowers.
A new study published in the journal Current Biology from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Royal Holloway has discovered that a natural nectar chemical in Calluna heather called callunene can act as a medicine to protect bumblebees from a harmful parasite.
Flowers: January - April
Lonicera fragrantissima is a bushy, deciduous shrub with highly fragrant, cream flowers in winter and early spring.
Flowers: January - March
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