Here is a link to a downloadable version of the Cross-Pollination plant list (PDF format).
Bee and Pollinating Insect Friendly Plants
(There are 14 of these)
Common name | Scientific name | Variety | Growing & Management | Notes on insects attracted |
Borage | Borago officinalis | species | Annual; plant seeds in spring; reseeds itself readily Spring: allow seedlings to grow Summer: weed Autumn: remove dead material after flowering |
Mainly honey bees |
Buddleia | Buddleia davidii | A blue one | Shrub: Spring: cut back Summer: weed, and dead head Autumn: cut back |
Mainly butterflies and bumble bees, some ling tongued hover flies, rather few honey bees |
Catmint | Nepeta | species | Hardy perennial herb Spring; nothing; plants can be dug up and divided if need be to increase area Summer: weeding and trimming Autumn: at end of year dead above ground material can be cut back |
Bumble bees, honey bees, some butterflies and other bees |
Dahlia | Dahlia | Bishop of Llandaff | Not hardy Spring: plant tubers or small potted plants Summer: weed & dead head Autumn: above ground material will die after frost, after which dead material can be removed; tubers can be lifted and stored dry and frost free for next spring or bed can be mulched with leaves or grass cuttings to give chance of tuber survival; tubers will easily rot in wet soil |
Mainly bumble bees |
Fleabane* | Pulicaria dysenterica | species | Hardy perrenial herb needing little management; spreads slowly by rhizomes | Wide range including butterflies |
Helenium | Helenium | Sahin’s Early Flowerer | Hardy perennial | Wide range including honey bees |
Hemp Agrimony | Eupatorium | – | Hover flies, butterflies | |
Lamb’s Ear | Stachys byzantia | species | Hardy perennial herb Spring; nothing Summer: weeding, trimming, dead heading Autumn: at end of year dead flowering stems can be cut back |
Wool carder bee, other bees |
Lavender | Lavandula x intermedia | Grosso | Hardy perennial small shrub Spring; nothing Summer: weeding and trimming Autumn: at end of year dead flowering stems can be trimmed back to woody material, leaving above ground main stems. |
Mainly bumble bees |
Marjoram* | Origanum vulgare | species | Hardy perennial native herb Spring; nothing Summer: weeding, trimming Autumn: at end of year dead flowering stems can be cut back |
Attracts all 6 categories* |
Purple Loosestrife* | Lythrum salicaria | species | Hardy perennial native herb Spring; nothing; plants can be dug up and divided if need be to increase area Summer: weeding, trimming, dead heading Autumn: at end of year dead above ground material can be cut back |
Honey bees and bumble bees |
Sunflower | Helianthus | Lemon Queen | Hardy perennial herb Spring; nothing Summer: weeding, trimming Autumn: at end of year dead flowering stems can be cut back |
Hover flies, honey bees, butterflies |
Verbena | Verbena bonariensis | species | Half hardy perennial herb Very easy to take stem cuttings in spring |
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Wallflower | Erysimum linifolium | Bowles Mauve | Hardy perennial small shrub Spring, Summer, Autumn: Flowers March, -November flowering stems can be cut off when cease flowering |
Good for butterflies, bumble bees & hover flies |
Non Pollinating Insect Friendly
(There are 3 species. These are used as controls in the data monitoring)
Common name | Scientific name | Variety | Growing | Notes on insects attracted |
Pelargonium | Pelargonium | Cramden Red | Not hardy; keep in greenhouse or replant each spring Spring: plant out small plants Summer; weed, dead head old flower stems Autumn: will die in frosts, after which dead material can be removed; plants can be taken to greenhouse before first frost to provide cutting in spring if need be |
Have seen 2 Brimstone butterflies in 4 years |
Dahlia | Dahlia | “Pom Pom” Franz Kafka | As per Dahlia above | Some bumble bees and flies |
Dahlia | Dahlia | “Cactus” Tahiti Sunrise | Some bumble bees and flies but almost none |