Top 50 Annual and Biennial Plants for Pollinators
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Top 50 Annual and Biennial Plants, usually sown from seed, that will need to be planted every year or every other year List Curated by Thomas McBride From research data collected and collated at the National Botanic Garden of Wales NB: Butterflies and Moths are not studied at the NBGW so any data on nectar plants beneficial for them is taken from Butterfly Conservation About Annuals and Biennials Annual and Biennial plants are those which only take one or two years to complete their full life cycle from germination to seed dispersal and death respectively. These plants, especially annuals, are usually grow directly from seed so may be used in a different way to perennials and shrubs in gardens. Often used as a pop of colour, annuals especially can be sown early in the year in the gaps between perennials in the border. Alternatively, they may be grown in a greenhouse and planted out such as petunias and French marigolds, which are usually bedding plants, or planted in the form of a meadow mix, such as poppies, cornflowers, corn cockles and corn marigolds. Due to their quick life cycle, these species are often ruderal and will produce large numbers of seeds during their lifetime. Some annuals will seed every year so they may appear to continue flowering as perennials would. Biennials will only flower on the second year; often growing a basal rosette of leaves the first year to provide energy for the following year’s growth such as foxgloves and mullein. If you use annuals and biennials wisely, they can be every bit as impactful as perennials in your borders. Why not try planting them amongst the vegetables in your allotment. If one of your perennials has died, they can be great for filling those sorry-looking gaps. Map Maps depict the native area of the plant (in green) Guide to using these pages: They also show areas the plant is naturalised (in purple) Latin Binomial All maps shown Name are derived from ‘Plants of the Common World Online’; English courtesy of Kew Name Gardens Flowering Period Photograph (this is when it is good of the plant for pollinators!) in flower Plant Family Insect groups known to Growing habit favour the and mature size nectar of this of the plant plant Useful knowledge or warnings about the plant RHS AGM cultivars of this species (or a related species occasionally) i Key to these Pages Warnings Additional information on these garden plants This plant would The flowers only be suitable for and/or leaves meadow-style have a Pleasant Plant tissue is highly planting scent toxic if ingested The plant has edible parts that are Sap may cause irritation Plant is often used in commonly eaten or (Wash hands after touching traditional Herbal Remedies used in cooking or avoid touching) ii Temperature RHS Hardiness Scale Some of the plants listed in our Top 200 are not fully H1a - Above 15ºC hardy in all or some parts of the United Kingdom. H1b - Minimum 10ºC Plants without a thermometer symbol are fully hardy in the severest UK Winter; equating to H5 or hardier. H1c - Minimum 5ºC Plants with a coloured thermometer symbol are hardy to varying degrees as follows: H2 - Minimum 1ºC H3 - Minimum -5ºC H4 - Minimum -10ºC H5 - Minimum -15ºC Almost Hardy Half-Hardy Not Frost Hardy Not Hardy (H4) (H3) (H2) (H1) iii Pollinators Our data on pollinators has been collected from studies spanning over a decade. Pollinator symbols appear when plants are proven to be good nectar (a) (b) plants for certain insects. It should be noted that all bee and hoverfly data is ours but lepidoptera data is taken from Butterfly Conservation. Our data spans a wide range of different insect species. For simplicity, these species have been condensed into six easy icons to represent them: (c) (d) a) Honeybees c) Bumblebees e) Moths b) Hoverflies d) Butterflies f) Solitary Bees (Includes Moths) (e) (f) iv Agrostemma githago Eurasia Common Corn-cockle None Summer . Caryophyllaceae Pink Family 3ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Emorsgate Seeds 1 Alcea rosea Anatolia Common Hollyhock None Summer . Malvaceae Mallow Family 6ft Biennial Photograph from Flickr by Bernard Spragg 2 Anethum graveolens Middle East Common Dill ‘Moulton’ Summer . ‘Annete’ ‘Hera’ Apiaceae Carrot Family 3ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Maja Dumat 3 Borago officinalis Mediterranean Common Borage None Late Spring - Midsummer Boraginaceae Borage Family 2ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Peter Stenzel 4 Calendula officinalis Iberia Common Marigold ‘Fiesta Gitana’ Early Summer - Early Autumn Asteraceae Daisy Family 2ft Annual Photograph © Thomas McBride 5 Centaurea cyanus Annual Cornflower Eurasia None Late Spring - Midsummer Asteraceae Daisy Family 2ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Julia Halle 6 Cerinthe major Mediterranean Greater Honeywort None Summer . Boraginaceae Borage Family 2ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Sarah Barker 7 Cleome hassleriana S. America Common Spiderflower ‘Helen Campbell’ Midsummer - Early Autumn Cleomaceae Spiderflower Family 5ft Annual Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) Anon. 8 Consolida regalis Eurasia Forking Larkspur (Related species: Delphiniums) Late Spring None - Midsummer Ranunculaceae Buttercup Family 2ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Xulesc G 9 Coreopsis tinctoria N. America Dyer’s Tickseed ‘Yellow and Red’ Midsummer - Mid Autumn Asteraceae Daisy Family 3ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Natalie J 10 Cosmos bipinnatus Mexico Mexican Daisy ‘Apollo’ ‘Rubenza’ Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Velouette’ Asteraceae Daisy Family 3ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Dean Morley 11 Cosmos sulphereus C.Mexico America Yellow Mexican Daisy ‘Brightness Red’ Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Tango’ Asteraceae Daisy Family 4ft Annual * This plant, if sown early, should be sown inside Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) Ramesh NG during winter (cannot survive below -5’c night temperatures)12 Dianthus barbatus Eurasia Sweet William ‘Nigrescens series’ Late Spring - Midsummer ‘Super Parfait series’ Caryophyllaceae Pink Family 2ft Biennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Xulesc G 13 Digitalis purpurea Europe Common Foxglove ‘The Shirley’ Summer . ‘Dalmatian series’ Plantaginaceae Plantain Family 5ft Biennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Joachim Blattboldt 14 Echium vulgare Eurasia Viper’s Bugloss ‘Blue Bedder’ Summer . Boraginaceae Borage Family 3ft Biennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) S. Rae 15 Eschscholzia californica N. America Californian Poppy ‘Dali’ Summer . ‘Thai Silk series’ Papaveraceae Poppy Family 2ft Annual Photograph by Thomas McBride 16 Fragaria x ananassa N. America S. America Garden Strawberry Fragaria virginiana x Fragaria chiloensis Fragaria Fragaria virginiana chiloensis Spring . ‘Cambridge Fav.’ ‘Rhapsody’ Summer . (Berries) Rosaceae Rose Family 2ft Trailing Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Maja Dumat 17 Glebionis segetum Afro-Eurasia Corn Marigold None Summer . Asteraceae Daisy Family 2ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Andreas Rockstein 18 Helianthus annuus N. America Common Sunflower ‘Claret’ ‘Waooh’ Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Valentine’ Asteraceae Daisy Family * 3ft Annual * Dry Seeds edible (‘sunflower seeds’), Seeds are harvested commercially for sunflower oil. Photograph from Flickr (CC) Henry Elliss 19 Hesperis matronalis Europe Dame’s-violet None Late Spring - Early Summer Brassicaceae Mustard Family 3ft Biennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) F. D. Richards 20 Iberis umbellata Mediterranean Annual Candytuft None Late Spring - Midsummer Brassicaceae Mustard Family 1ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Lauren Gutierrez 21 Ipomoea tricolor Mexico Morning Glory ‘Heavenly Blue’ Summer . Convolvulaceae Bindweed Family 8ft Climbing Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Maja Dumat * This plant can only be grown outside during the summer (above 5’c night temperatures) 22 Isatis tinctoria Europe Dyer’s Woad None Late Spring - Early Summer Brassicaceae Mustard Family 6ft Biennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Frank Wouter 23 Lathyrus odoratus Italia Sweet Pea ‘Lipstick’ ‘Bristol’ Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Solway series’ Fabaceae Legume Family 6ft Climber Annual Photograph by Thomas McBride * This plant, if sown early, should be sown inside during winter (cannot survive below -5’c night temperatures)24 Limnanthes douglasii N. America Poached Egg Plant -Species- Midsummer - Early Autumn Limnanthaceae Meadowfoam Family 1ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) James Gaither 25 Linum usitatissimum Middle East Common Flax Related species: Late Spring L. grandiflorum - Midsummer Linaceae Flax Family 2ft Annual Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) John Brighenti 26 Lobelia cardinalis N. America Red Cardinal Flower - Species - Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Queen Victoria’ Campanulaceae Bellflower Family 3ft Annual* *Or short-lived Photograph from Flickr (CC) Kerry Woods Marshlands 27 half-hardy perennial Lobelia x speciosa N. America Purple Cardinal Flower Lobelia siphilitica x Lobelia cardinalis* ‘Pink Elephant’ Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Fan series’ Campanulaceae Bellflower Family 3ft Annual * Natural hybrid between Red and Blue Cardinal flowers. Photograph from Flickr (CC) Alwyn Ladell Map shows the range crossover where the hybrid28 is native Lobularia maritima Mediterranean Sweet Alyssum ‘Snowdrift’ Summer . ‘Violet Queen’ Brassicaceae Mustard Family 1ft Spreading Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Sampo Pihlainen 29 Lupinus pilosus Mediterranean Blue Lupin None Late Spring - Midsummer Fabaceae Legume Family 3ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Zachi Evenor * This plant, if sown early, should be sown inside during winter (cannot survive below -5’c night