THE ACTION PLAN FOR POLLINATORS SUGGESTED PLANT LIST FOR POLLINATORS Part 1 – A concise list of suggested garden plants that are attractive to pollinating insects This is a list of suggested garden plants. We have only selected flowers which are garden-worthy, easily obtainable, well-known, and widely acknowledged as being attractive to pollinating insects. In some case we have given extra comments about garden-worthiness. This is intended as a clear and concise short list to help gardeners; it is not intended to be comprehensive and we have avoided suggesting plants which are difficult to grow or obtain, or whose benefit to pollinators is still a matter for debate. We have omitted several plants that are considered to have invasive potential, and have qualified some others on the list with comments advising readers how to avoid invasive forms. KEY Butterfly Conversation’s Awarded the Royal Horticultural Top Butterfly Nectar Plants. Society’s ‘Award of Garden Merit’. PLANT ANGELICA BIRD’S FOOT TREFOIL (Angelica species). Attractive to a range (Lotus corniculatus). Larval food plant of insects, especially hoverflies and for Common Blue, Dingy Skipper and solitary bees. several moths. Also an important pollen source for bumblebees. Can be grown in AUBRETIA gravel or planted in a lawn that is mowed (Aubrieta deltoides hybrids). An with blades set high during the flowering important early nectar for insects coming period. out of hibernation. BOWLES’ WALLFLOWER BELLFLOWER (Erysimum Bowles Mauve). (Campanula species and cultivars). Mauve perennial wallflower, long Forage for bumblebees and some season nectar for butterflies, moths solitary bees. and many bee species. BETONY BLACK KNAPWEED OR HARDHEADS (Stachys officinalis). Attractive to (Centaurea nigra). This wild flower can bumblebees. be grown in flower borders, or in a gravel garden. It is very variable in the wild and ideally should be grown from seeds of local provenance. Attracts a wide range of insects. PLANT BUGLE COMMON IVY (Ajuga reptans). Species and cultivars. (Hedera helix). An important late nectar Early forage for bees. Can be grown in a source, a larval food plant for the Holly ‘spring meadow’ area in a lawn. Blue butterfly and for several moths, plus a hibernation site for many insects. BUTTERFLY BUSH Needs space to climb in order to reach (Buddleja). Note that forms of B. davidii flowering size. seed freely and can be invasive. They are not recommended to plant near COSMOS sensitive wildlife areas. The following two (Cosmos bipinnatus). Single-flowered hybrids do not produce seed: hybrids only. Forage for a range of Buddleja ‘Lochinch’. Resembles B. insects. davidii, flowering in mid-summer. Attractive to butterflies. CRANESBIL (Geranium species). Single-flowered Buddleja x weyeriana* ‘Golden Glow’. species and cultivars. Nectar source for This is a cross between B.davidii and B. bumblebees. globosa, late flowering. Attractive to a of insects. CURRANTS Buddleja globosa has yellow or orange Blackcurrant, Gooseberry, and Flowering ball-shaped flowers in May that are Currant (Ribes sanguineum). Nectar for attractive to bumblebees. bumblebees. CALAMINT DAHLIA (Calamintha species). Forage for (Dahlia species and cultivars). bumblebees and some solitary bees. Single-flowered forms only. Forage for a range of insects. CARDOON AND GLOBE ARTICHOKE (Cynara cardunculus). Forage for a DAME’S VIOLET OR SWEET ROCKET range of insects. A tall ‘architectural’ (Hesperis matronalis). Nectar source for perennial. butterflies, also larval food of Orange Tip butterfly. CATMINT (Nepeta* species and cultivars). DEAD NETTLE Attractive to a range of insects. (Lamium species). All species and cultivars are forage for bumblebees and CHIVES some solitary bees. (Allium schoenoprasum). Attractive to a range of insects. DWARF BUGLOSS (Echium plantagineum ‘Blue Bedder’). COMFREY (Symphytum species). All are attractive A smaller counterpart of Viper’s Bugloss, to various species of bees, and are the (E. vulgare) easier to accommodate in larval food plant of the Scarlet Tiger gardens, with many vivid blue flowers moth. S. ‘Hidcote Blue’ is early forage all summer long that attract a range of for bumblebees and the solitary bee insects. Anthophora plumipes. DYER’S CHAMOMILE (Anthemis tinctoria). Attractive to solitary COMMON FLEABANE bees, and hoverflies. (Pulicaria dysenterica). For boggy areas. Similar to marigolds (Calendula) EVENING PRIMROSE but more attractive to a wide range of (Oenothera biennis and O. glazoviana). insects. Nectar for moths. PLANT FENNEL HEMP AGRIMONY (Foeniculum vulgare). Attractive to (Eupatorium cannabinum ). Late summer a wide range of insects, especially nectar for butterflies and moths, and hoverflies and solitary bees. The bronze- forage for bees and other insects. leaved form ‘Purpureum’ is particularly Prefers damp soil and needs plenty of ornamental as a garden plant. space. Avoid the double-flowered form as it does not produce nectar. FOXGLOVES (Digitalis) HOLLY COMMON FOXGLOVE (Ilex aquifolium, species and cultivars). (Digitalis purpurea). Forage for Male trees produce nectar. Also a larval long-tongued bumblebees. Smaller food plant of Holly blue butterfly. flowered species are forage for short-tongued bumblebees and some HONESTY solitary bees. (Lunaria annua). Source of nectar for butterflies, also larval food plant for GLOBE THISTLE Orange Tip and Green-veined White. (Echinops species and cultivars). Attractive to a range of insects. ICE PLANT (Sedum spectabile). Late summer nectar GOLDEN HOP source for butterflies and bees. (Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’). A climbing foliage plant which is a larval food for JOE PYE WEED Buttoned Snout moth and Comma (Eupatorium purpureum and cultivars). butterfly. A large counterpart of Hemp Agrimony from N. America, proving late nectar for GOLDENROD butterflies, and forage for bees and other (Solidago species and hybrids). insects. Attractive to a range of insects in late summer. KIDNEY VETCH Some hybrids are very invasive and (Anthyllis vulneraria). Larval food plant produce copious seed; instead grow for Small Blue, also nectar for Common the native S. virgaurea, or obtain Blue, etc. and forage for bumblebees. non-invasive cultivars from nurseries or Grow in gravel garden or a rockery. garden centres. LADY’S SMOCK OR CUCKOO FLOWER HEATH (Cardamine pratensis). Food plant for Orange Tip and Green-veined White (Erica species and cultivars). Close larvae. Needs boggy conditions. Can relatives of heathers that are important be grown in a ‘spring meadow’ area in a forage for bees and a nectar source lawn together with early flowering bulbs. for butterflies. Some species are lime-tolerant. LAMB’S EAR (Stachys byzantina). Attractive to HEATHER bumblebees and the Wool Carder Bee. (Calluna vulgaris cultivars). Avoid the non-flowering forms commonly Acid-soil loving heathers are important sold as ground cover in garden centres. for late season forage. Choose single- flowered forms with visible stamens LAVENDER and accessible nectar; many cultivars (Lavendula angustifolia and L. X currently sold in garden centres have intermedia cultivars). Attractive to wide flowers that are not accessible to range of insects. Recent research insects. suggests that the taller ‘Old English’ types provide the best forage for HEBE OR SHRUBBY VERONICA insects. Hebe ‘Midsummer Beauty’. Nectar for butterflies, moths and bees in LUNGWORT mid-summer.Hebe ‘Great Orme’. Nectar (Pulmonaria species). Early spring for butterflies, moths and bees in late nectar source for bumblebees and the summer. solitary bee Anthophora plumipes. PLANT MEXICAN HEMP AGRIMONY PURPLE CONEFLOWER (Eupatorium ligustrinum, syn. Ageratina (Echinacea species and cultivars). A late ligustrina). Scented patio shrub, nectar summer nectar source for most insects. for butterflies in late summer and early autumn. Protect from hard frost in winter. PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE (Lythrum salicaria). For boggy ground. MICHAELMAS DAISIES Attractive to a range of insects. Many kinds provide forage for insects in late summer, however some are invasive PURPLE TOADFLAX and do not make good garden plants. (Linaria purpurea). Forage for The following are non-invasive: bumblebees and some solitary bees. STARWORT PURPLE TOP (Aster amellus cultivars). Attractive to a (Verbena bonariensis). range of insects. Nectar source for butterflies. NEW ENGLAND MICHAELMAS DAISY RASPBERRY (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (Rubus idaeus). Flowers are attractive to cultivars). Attractive to a range of a range of insects. insects. MICHAELMAS DAISY HYBRID ‘MONCH’ RED CLOVER (Aster X ‘Frikartii ‘Monch’). Particularly (Trifolium pratense). High-protein pollen recommended for butterflies, attractive important for Bumblebees, as well as to a range of insects. nectar for butterflies and larval food for many moths. Can be planted in a MINTS lawn that is mowed with blades set high (Mentha species). Attractive to a range during the flowering period. of insects. ROSEMARY MOUNTAIN CORNFLOWER (Rosmarinus officinalis). Early spring (Centaurea montana). Forage for forage for bumblebees and some bumblebees and some solitary bees. solitary bees. MULLEINS ROSES (ROSA) (Verbascum species). A pollen source Single-flowered roses, both species for bumblebees and some solitary bees. and cultivars, are a pollen source for Larval food plant of Mullein Moth. bumblebees and some solitary bees. OREGON GRAPE ROUND-HEADED LEEK (Mahonia aquifolium). Shrub that (Allium sphaerocephalon). Attractive to a provides an early forage source for range of insects. bees. SAGES