After the Easter break we are all enthusiastic about working in the garden! There is lots to do. It is also the perfect time to sow hardy annuals – plants that are sown now, where they will flower, and which will provide colour all summer. There is a huge range of heights, flower colours and forms and most are just what our bees want to collect lots of pollen and nectar.
Of course, the garden centre is full of bedding plants for summer containers, some of which are a bit of a risk to plant out quite yet because we might still get a frost. Many are not very useful for pollinators and petunias are rarely visited by bees. But others do provide food for bees and butterflies, including bidens, many dianthus and cosmos. But this post is about seeds you can sow today and will feed your pollinators for just a few pounds!
You can buy mixtures of flowers or single flower types. Here are some of my favourites. I mentioned how to actually sow them a few weeks ago but the packs will also give details of sowing.
Cornflowers
All types of cornflowers are hugely popular with bees, and butterflies too. Their nectar is very rich in sugar so especially attractive to bees. The common blue cornflower is also available in other colours, all of which are lovely to pick for the home. The closely related American basket flower (named for the intricate bracts that surround the blooms) is pictured at the top of the post and has huge flowers that are delicately scented too. It is a tall, willowy annual and easy to grow. Bees love these large blooms and spend ages rummaging about in the petals.
Mignonette
One annual I grow every year is mignonette (reseda). It is a very old-fashioned flower and creates leafy clumps with lots of spikes of flowers. This is not a colourful plant! The flowers are small with tiny, frilly petals. The two reasons to grow this are the sweet, honey perfume of the blooms that fragrances the air and the way it is chosen above all other flowers, by honey bees. They adore the small blooms and pack their pollen baskets with the distinctive brown pollen.
Poached egg plant
The other plant I grow primarily for bees is the poached egg plant (limnanthes). This is a fast-growing, low annual that usually self seeds. It produces broad, fleshy rosettes of bright green, ferny foliage and then erupts in a carpet of dazzling yellow and white flowers. Although they do not seem that attractive to bumblebees, they are always busy with honey bees. Planted together with mignonette they will provide masses of valuable food for beekeepers.
Poppies
All poppies are beautiful and they are loved by bees. The flowers do not contain much nectar but they are packed with nutritious pollen and bees will ‘buzz’ in the blooms to dislodge more pollen. There are many kinds of poppy but the most spectacular are the opium poppies (Papaver somniferum). These are tall, with steely grey leaves. They do not bloom for long but the seed pods are attractive too.
Morning glory
Convolvulus minor, the dwarf morning glory, is an underused annual. The flowers are typically blue with a yellow and white centre but there are pinks and reds too. It has large seeds that are easy to grow and plants cover the ground well and bloom for many months. The flowers are popular with bees and hoverflies. Do not worry that this is a convolvulus – it is an annual and not a weed, though it may self seed in your garden if it finds conditions to its liking.
Nasturtium
Nasturtiums (tropaeolum) are among the easiest of all annual flowers to grow. The plants can be bushy or trailing and they all flower for many months. The leaves and flowers are edible and have a spicy taste. The large flowers are especially loved by bumblebees that will clamber into the large blooms to look for nectar.
Weekly reminders
It is time to get sowing in the veg plot. Many vegetables can be sown direct where they are to grow. You can sow carrots, turnips, lettuce, cabbage and many more. You can also sow leeks in rows to replant later in their growing positions. It is not too late to sow courgettes and French beans. You can sow sweetcorn too.
Buy tomato plants to plant in the greenhouse or polytunnel.
If you have not yet fed your lawn, do so now unless the weather is very dry – bear in mind it will be hot and dry later in the week.