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If you are looking to add more flowers to your garden, while you are at it, why not pick some that really benefit the bees.
In the UK there are around 24 species of bumblebee. Some more common than others. You can tell honeybees and bumblebees apart from their bodies. Honeybees tend to be slimmer and flatter. Whereas bumblebees tend to look fatter and furry.
Bumblebees like to visit flowers to collect pollen and nectar to take back to their colonies to feed the developing bees.
Unlike honeybees, bumblebees do not make honey to sustain their colony over winter. Bumblebee colonies are smaller and die each year, with a new nest created by a queen bee in the spring. Newly emerged queens feed on nectar to boost their energy levels before they look for a nest site. Once she has found a suitable site (under a shed, an old hole, burrow or compost heap) she will start to collect pollen as well as nectar to feed her hatched brood.
Different flowers attract different species of bees, bees with short tongues will want flowers with easy to reach nectar, longer tongued species can feed from flowers where the nectar is deeper. Bumblebees also like variety and will graze over many different flower species, whereas the honeybee exhausts one plant before it will look for its next favourite treat.
Below you will find a list of some of the plants bumblebees enjoy feasting on.
A variety of wildflowers such as cornflower, corn marigold, poppy, oxeyed daisy, foxgloves, field forget-me-not, to mention a few, are a great choice for bees as well as other pollinators. They are cheap to buy as you start them from seeds which you just scattered onto an area cleared of grass. Wildflowers are declining, if you sow some seeds you will also be helping to keep these flowers alive for future generations to enjoy.
One of my favourite plants, and so easy to grow and look after. Mine always have bees inside the bell shaped flowers. Penstemons flower from early summer all the way through to late autumn (June - November). For any bees that are still flying around, they provide an important source of nectar late in the year.
Rosemary can be a perfect solution for a hot dry place in the garden where little else will grow. It doesn't require much watering and it will be a magnet for bumblebees and other pollinators when it flowers. And of course rosemary can be used in cooking.
The vivid blue flowers of borage produce masses of nectar, they are such a pretty plant to have, and the nectar will attract pollinators like bumblebees and honeybees.
It's an easy plant to grow, requiring a spot in full sun or dappled shade, in moist, well-drained soil. The flowers are also edible and can be used to garnish drinks and salads.
Scabious have broad flower heads packed with small flowers, creating a great landing pad for bumblebees. It can often be found in wilder habitats and is popular with many species.
Large species of bumblebee will always be found climbing into tubular foxglove blooms to reach the nectar within.
You can buy foxgloves from garden nurseries, but most die after they flower. When sown from seed, in the first year they produce the leaves, in the second year they produce flowers, they then die after they release their seeds.
To get a continuous display of foxgloves, be prepared to wait three years. When the plant is ready to release its seeds, collect some to ensure you have more in the following year. Keep the seeds in a paper bag somewhere cool and dry, like a garage or shed. Grow them in pots from spring time. They will develop their leaves throughout the summer and you will be able to plant them out in the autumn. Any seeds sown directly in the ground will need sunlight, as they can't germinate otherwise. After three years you should have a naturally occurring continuous summer display of foxglove flowers.
Echniops, also known as Globe Thistles, have a spherical flower head in steely blues and purples. There are many tiny flowers on one head which are held closely together, this means bumblebees can access many flowers without the need to use lots of energy moving from one flower head to another.
Their shape and colour will also add interest to your garden.
Lavender attracts bumblebees, butterflies and honeybees. It's a great all round plant that will make your garden smell wonderful. This is a good plant to place in a hot sunny dry position, it also works well near to pathways and patios as the scent is released every time you brush past it.
Just like rosemary you can add the foliage of chives to your food, and like borage, the flowers are edible.
My chives always have bumblebees on them along with mason bees and hoverflies.
When you are in any garden centre, you will always spot bees on the single flowered dahlias. The multi flowered variety make it hard for the bees to get to the nectar, plus plants with many flower petals usually means very little nectar as all the effort is put into the plants petals. There is a wide variety of patterns and colours to choose from. With regular deadheading, they'll prove to be a valuable source of late nectar.
Red clover can appear naturally in grass, but only if the grass is left to grow and weed killer isn't used. Bumblebees love clover, so let your grass go a little wild and it won't be long before this returns to your garden.
Wild marjoram is an aromatic herb with pale pink flowers that attract all manner of pollinators including bumblebees. If you want to eat oregano, check out the herb section in your garden centre and check to make sure it is edible.
My cranes bill plants are always covered in bumblebees and the birds love hunting through them, so they clearly attract other insects. These spread on their own, and can be divided at the root to create more plants. They flower from spring until late Autumn.
Bumblebees can be seen out and about from February onwards. It's important to add plants that will flower at this time to give the bees something to feast on. Hellebores, heathers and winter aconites can be good sources of nectar. But do visit your local garden centre to see what is in flower. You can usually find a bee logo on the label of the plant to find out if it is considered bee friendly.
Salvias - all types
Wallflower Erysimum Bowles's Mauve
Wallflower Erysimum Walberton's Fragrant Sunshine
Cardoons, cynara cardunculus
Single Flowered roses - dog rose
Stawberry tree, arbutus unedo
White deadnettler, lamium album
Lungwort, pulmonaria spp
Flowering current, ribes sanquineum
Winter heather, erica carnea
Rudbekia - SmileyZ Star of Life has proved popular in my garden
Buddleia - pink delight is quite popular
Verbena bonariensis
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