Designing a Pollinator-Friendly Flower Garden

A pollinator garden is beautiful and useful. Bees, butterflies, moths and hoverflies need food, water and shelter, and a thoughtfully planted border can supply all three.

Think in successions

Pollinators need flowers from early spring to late autumn. Plan overlapping bloom times:

• Early — hellebore, crocus, willow, lungwort.
• Late spring — allium, aquilegia, hardy geranium.
• Summer — lavender, echinacea, verbena, monarda.
• Autumn — asters, sedum, helenium, ivy.

Favour simple, open flowers

Double flowers often hide nectar and pollen. Single-flowered varieties are easier for insects to use. Different insects have different tongues, so include flat daisy shapes, deep tubular flowers and umbellifers.

Plant in drifts

Pollinators forage more efficiently when food is concentrated. Group at least three to five plants of the same species rather than scattering one of everything. Repeat drifts through the border for visual rhythm.

Provide more than nectar

A shallow dish of water with pebbles gives insects a safe drink. Leave hollow stems and undisturbed ground for nesting. Avoid insecticides, especially on flowering plants.

A starter plant list

Lavender, catmint, salvia, echinacea, rudbeckia, aster, sedum, foxglove, borage, alyssum and calendula will support a wide range of pollinators in most temperate gardens.