Plants for bees

[minxski]

Hi All

I'm not sure if this is the right area, so please tell me if I'm wrong, but I was hoping for some guidance.

I live in a terrace house in Derbyshire, with a small back yard. I only have room for potted plants and was really hoping to plant some plants that attract bees (honey and bumble). I was hoping you would be able to give me some guidance on some plants that would attract bees and that are common to the UK.

I have a cat and there are other cats that come into my garden so I would prefer plants that are not poisonous (not sure the cats would eat them, but they do love to lay in the area, and they may rub up against the plants and then lick themselves). ~ that may be daft I know, but I worry about these things

I'm not much of a gardener (just learning) ~ as you can no doubt tell

Any help is much appreciated

[Dorts]

Hi minxski, a warm welcome to WAB. 'Which flowers are best for attracting bees?' A good question with a potentially long answer. But here is a short answer. Any plant with 'single' flowers rather than 'double' flowers, (which are usually sterile and offer nothing for bees), would be good in your back yard.
Dorts.

[minxski]

Thanks Dorts, for the warm welcome and handy tip

So single flowers, like pansies (I presume) ~ see really not much of a gardener

[Tursiops2]

Some to start you off...

Herbs do well in pots; Thyme, Mint, Oregano, Chives, Lavender, Rosemary, Chamomile etc. Annuals, like Sweet Alyssum, Poached-egg Plant (Limnanthes douglassii), Field Poppy, Cornflower, Marigold (Calendula, not Tagetes a.k.a. African Marigold/Pot Marigold). If you've got room for shrubs in containers, then Hebe brachysiphon, Ceratostigma wilmottianum, Catnip (Nepeta) or good old Buddleia.

None of these are harmful to cats, and they'll go wild over Catnip

T2

[minxski]

Thanks Tursiops2

Oh lavender sounds good ~ smells lovely too

I googled Buddleia and it's very pretty ~ I like the look of that one

Catnip sounds fun, my cat loves it ~ let's just hope she doesn't squash it all

Thanks again

[Hedera]

There are some small buddleias specially for pots available now. French lavender is good, protect it in winter though. Perennials like coneflowers, rudbeckia, antirhinums, scabious, knautia, and osteospermums you can grow from seed and will grow in pots. Cats won't hurt with these, but DON'T have lilies as their pollen is highly toxic to cats and can kill.

[chattycaff]

Just an idea... If you have a local co-op by you... there giving away for free packets of wild flower seeds which contain cornflower, field poppy, clover, birdsfoot, trefoil, knapweed, corncockle, red campion, lucerne, daisy and evening primrose. i took a few myself today...there doing it to support pollinators... you can search online for " join the revolution " for more info.

[Hobjob]

Buddleias are also known as the "butterfly bush".

So you may attract yet more wildlife - they are amenable to hard pruning too!

[minxski]

Thanks Hedera, chattycaff and Hobjob

Hedera ~ I didn't know that about lillies! and they are so beautiful too!

chattycaff ~ I have a co-op at the end of my street, I'll have to pop in and see what I can find. I have joined the revolution and there is help on the site about plants too


Hobjob ~ so hopefully I would get butterflies too yay

Thanks everyone, again, for your help big hugs all round

[minxski]

little update.

I went to the co-op as suggested by chattycaff, alas no free seeds. However, I did find seeds in mini propagators, so thank you chattycaff for putting co-op in my head. Basically the propagator is a paper cup, instructions, seeds, compost and a clear lid. They were 3 for £4, which I thought was great. Bargain!

There was veg as well as flowers, but I picked 2 of the Wildflower mix and lavender,as Tursiops2 suggested lavender and I thought Wildflower mix would give me a bit of everything. They are now on my kitchen windowsil trying to grow.

I also went to the market, in our town square, and bought pansies (purple and yellow, 2 of each), 2 Gaillardia "Burgundy" and 1 Gaillardia "Bremen", as Dorts said pick flowers that are single ~ plus they were so pretty. The Gallardia aren't flowering, but the picture of the flowers were really pretty. I'm going to plant them in pots tomorrow.