As we move into the heat of the summer and the spring flowers are going over we need to keep up a supply of pollen and nectar to sustain the populations of butterflies and bees and help to prevent them from going into decline.

I am often asked by nursery customers to advise on which plants are best for butterflies and/or bees, and the answer is really anything that has a single flower – as in a non-double flowers where the reproductive organs have mutated into petals which gives a more showy flower but reduces the amount of pollen and nectar available (double flowers are great if you suffer from hay fever, but they are not going to provide sustenance for the insects). In general butterflies go for flowers with a flat top – so they have a landing pad, bees often go for tubular flowers that they can get inside to reach the pollen. The other key factor is to make sure that there is a succession of different flowers throughout the season even through the winter. Going into July and August is often a difficult time but we have identified 4 herbaceous perennials that both the butterflies and bees particularly love, that cope with the heat, look good in the garden and will supply pollen and nectar right through the summer:

Verbena bonariensis, Echinacea purpurea, Scabiosa, Echium vulgare: all available from our nursery as well as a wide range of other flowering perennials and also winter flowering shrubs that will provide essential nectar on sunny winter days. Open Saturdays 10am-4pm.