Why not swap bedding plants for bumblebee-friendly shrubs – Pretty bedding plants like begonias and busy lizzies may brighten up our gardens, but sadly they offer bumblebees very little or no food.
This is because their flowers have no pollen or nectar, or are the wrong shape for bumblebees to feed on – this may be true of many public flower displays which in fact leave bumblebees and other pollinators hungry!
It’s easy to change that! The beautiful plants listed are here all bumblebee-friendly, and easy to grow and look after. So you can get a display that is just as attractive for the same effort – and you can feel good knowing you’ve helped bumblebees.
Bumblebee Conservation Trust Top Shrub picks:
- Mahonia – yellow flower – likes a sunny spot or part shade – flowers November to March.
- Winter heather – purple, pink, white or yellow flowers – likes a sunny spot – flowers December to March
- Rosemary – blue flowers – like a sunny spot – flowers March to May
- Forest Flame – white or pink flowers – likes a sunny spot or part shade – flowers April to May
- Dog Rose – pink or white flowers – likes a sunny spot or part shade – flowers May to August
- English Lavender – purple flower – likes a sunny spot – flowers May to September
Bumblebee Conservation Trust Top Perennials picks:
- Lungword – purple, pink and blue flowers – likes a sunny spot or part shade – flowers February to April
- Comfry – purple, pink and blue flowers – likes a sunny spot or part shade – flowers April to August
- Hardy Geraniums/Cransesbill Geraniums – blue, purple, link and white flowers – likes a sunny spot or part shade – flowers May to August
- Stonecrop – pink and white flowers – likes a sunny spot or part shade – flowers July to October
Bumblebee Conservation Trust Spring Flowers picks:
- Snowdrops – white flowers – likes sunny spot or part shade – flowers January to March
- Crocus – purple, white, yellow flowers – likes sunny spot – flowers February to March
- Flowering current – orange, red and white flowers – likes sunny spot – flowers February to May
- Native primroses – white and yellow flowers – likes sunny spot or part shade – flowers March to May
- Dandelions – yellow flowers – likes sunny spot or part shade – flowers March to October
- Cowslips – yellow flowers – likes sunny spot or part shade – flowers April to May
- Bugle – blue flowers – likes part shade – flowers April to July
Bedding plants to avoid – these plants may be beautiful, but they have little or no food for bumblebees: Begonia, Busy lizzie, Geraniums (Pelargoniums), Highly cultivated roses, Pansy, Petunia, Bedding primroses (brightly coloured)
This advice from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust – for more planting ideas, try the interactive Bee kind tool at: https://beekind.bumblebeeconservation.org
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