Flowers for insects.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by jeremiah

Never had any success with Weigelas, though I see them growing nearby. One I planted and cherished for months had in fact died and its "support stick" grew - it was a willow - a big no-no next to a house on London clay....

The lavender attracts the most bees but its not if flower yet..

[paddy]

And look at the life in a herb garden - not exactly native, most of them - and verbena bonariensis, escallonia, pyracantha -
where i think the native rule does usually apply though is the pond, margins and bog garden.

[UB4 gardener]

kayleigh, i personally would only use the labels as a rough guide as it may not work in your garden. the reason i say that is purely from experience of garden centre plants. and i'm sure others have had the same experience. i have purchased several plants from garden centers that compared to all the others in the centre are covered in bees and insects only to get them in the garden and have next to nothing nectar on them as other plants in the garden are more productive. Lavendar being one of the best for insects that i have found. but i have also found that some are better than others. and even this has changed betweeen the 2 gardens that i have had. my advice for any wildlife gardener native or otherwise is experiment in your own garden. some plants i personally wouldn't be without
Buddliea (i have different varieties) the ones that perform best in my garden that i have found so far are nanho blue, lochinch and weyeriana but pink delight and others attract when the others have finished.
Marjoram. a good allrounder.
lesser knapweed, not the prettiest but you only have to google images and you'll see the wide variety that it attracts.
wallflower Bowles mauve.
purple loosestrife
Hemp agrimony
Lavender, I can't remember which varieties off the top of my head but any will do well
oxeye daisy.
if you're really brave ragwort (before i get moaned at the thread is flowers for insects and ragwort is a good one) and hogweed. others include clovers, buttercups, purple toadflax...... the list goes on and on. even the humble dandelion is a great insect attractor. ivy, mahonia.
i have attached a photo of my old garden in the middle of suburbia and this "weed patch" (made up of a lot of natives) as the locals used to affectionately call it was a haven for insects. 22 species of butterfly, the most single count was 21 of 5 species that i'm aware of. plants included hogweed, vipers bugloss, tansy, st johns worts, campions, valerians, cranesbills, knapweeds and all sorts so yes i have experimented. still far from expert though.



and as i mentioned, this has all changed now i have moved to semi rural Dorset on a sandy soil.

and after reading the article i'm looking forward to "a new BBC series in autumn ‘Bees, Butterflies and Blooms’ "

[Kayleigh]

I already have most of the plant mentioned above I an a plantaholic I love them my garden is full of
lavenders,
herbs lots of them,
pyracatha,
honeysuckle,
cotneaster was in before we moved in,
St johns wort,
raged robin,
pussy willow,
golden hop,
foxgloves,
poppies native and not both are a hit with the bees,
I cant menton them all as will be here all day I dont know the names of them all..
I have even got a ragwort rosette growing in my daffodil pot I dont know how it got there but its staying and will be transferred to my wildlife area by the pond.

[Ygdrasil]

Hi
Theres no doubt that native flowers/plants attracts, and supports a greater number of animals, than a nonnative one.
Last year i decided to let a patch of my lawn grow, and it had clover hawksbeard dandelions etc, and it had lots of different insects on it all summer.
When it comes to non native garden plants from garden centers, i sadly suspect them to be sprayed with insecticides, and even sometimes being treated with a systemic pesticide, that is on and in the plant for a long time, and there for poisoning the bees....?
So lets bring in the good old plants

[Kate_Izzy]

Yeah it's no good garden centres selling plants that in theory are good for insects but that are sprayed with insecticides, fungicides, growth stimulants/inhibitors etc.

If you've not read it then the book - 'No Nettles Required' by Ken Thompson is a really interesting read, about a university survey that studied wildlife in peoples gardens. They seemed to find that so called native plants are generally no better at attracting wildlife (apart from a few exceptions) and that having a pond, compost heap and not using chemicals have more effect.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Kate_Izzy

Yeah it's no good garden centres selling plants that in theory are good for insects but that are sprayed with insecticides, fungicides, growth stimulants/inhibitors etc.

If you've not read it then the book - 'No Nettles Required' by Ken Thompson is a really interesting read, about a university survey that studied wildlife in peoples gardens. They seemed to find that so called native plants are generally no better at attracting wildlife (apart from a few exceptions) and that having a pond, compost heap and not using chemicals have more effect.

Great stuff I get lots of wildlife the oxeye daisy are a big attraction something new on them everyday.
The book sounds a good read..
Cheers..