Winter Flowering Plants for Pollinators
We’re making recommendations of plants that one of us has in our garden or we’ve seen bees on this plant during the winter months. We’ve also provided a link to a lovely site/resource called Wildflower Gardens which has a lovely plant finder you can use, although I think it is better for the other three seasons. Often the issue once you’ve found a plant that will do what you want is where to find it. We’re out and about as much as possible and will post if we find of the plants we have and are recommending. As ever – help us out – if you have a plant that does well for pollinators let us know wildstroud@gmail.com
Mahonia – an autumn and winter food source
Bees and Mahonia – this links to a detailed blog from the Urban Pollinators all about different types of Mahonia and how they are a magnet for bees and other pollinators. If you had room for a couple of different species you could be providing pollen and nectar from November to late February.
Winter food for pollinators
Winter flowering Honeysuckle -it’s shrub-like not a climber. It flowers in January and February and smells divine. Suitable for a sunny or partly shady position – You can find out much more about it on the RHS site – although you’ll find it much cheaper elsewhere. It’s dead easy to propagate so if you know someone who has one you can do a greenwood or hardward cutting. This is an example of a non-native plant (origin China) that our bees seem to love
Add a bumblebee nest or two to your garden. Watch this video from David Goulson on how to do. Click here
David Goulson is passionate about insects, particularly bumblebees and founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust in 2006. His book The Garden Jungle: Or Gardening to Save the Planet is a must-read for anyone considering doing more for wildlife in their garden.