There are many reasons why you want to help bees but if you don't know why should and how you can (other than the reason of them being amazing creatures) check out my article “Save the bees”. The effect bees have on the environment is tremendous and we should all take time to help them however we can. A very easy and great way to do this is by growing a selection of plants that the bees can collect nectar and pollen from. This can include a number of flowering, druit, nut and vegetable plants. Unfortunately, not all plants are suitable for bees. This is the case with most ‘grains’ that make up a large part of humans and animals diet. Yet to have a thriving wildlife and avaried diet we need bees in our life. To help the bees I am recommending you plant some of following top plants for bees. I will also detail how to grow them and take care of them, so here are my top five plants to grow for bees:
Lavender
Botanical Name: Lavandula
This should be one on the top of your list. You can’t walk past a lavender shrub without seeing at least half a dozen bees buzzing around it. This plant is renowned for its strong fragrant smell it omits but also for its rich purple look. One of the most common in the UK is the English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), which is a very hardy plant and commonly grown throughout.
To grow lavender:
Planting
Usually, you can purchase lavender as a small bush but it can also be grown from seed. You should plant this preferable in the ground but it can also be in a large pot between April and May. Place it in full sun with free draining soil, ideally with chalky or alkaline soils. However, this is hardy plant and can do well in most soils.
Care
Once you have done the above and the plant is establish you don’t need to do much more. As this plant is very hardy you only need to water it in extreme drought or if potted.
Result
This often flowers in early May and then blooms again in June and often lasts to late summer or early autumn (fall). Great for the bees.
Dahlia
Botanical Name: Dahlia
This is a bulbed plant that is also incredibly beautiful, usually single but you can also get semi-double flowing variety. However, be warned that the double flowering variety is often bred without the pollen-producing part making it not very useful for bees. This plant is again hardy, low-maintenance and produce incredible geometric flower.
To grow Dahlias:
Planting
Dahlia is a bulbed plant often planted between May to June in full sun with well-draining, light, slightly acidic rich soil (lighter soil helps them survive through the winter). They preferably need a warmer climate, as they do struggle when it is colder but the bulbs can be dug up and stored over winter and replanted the following year. They ideally should be planted around 10 inches apart
Care
Dependant on the weather and climate this plant should be kept well- watered once it has established and is flowering. However, as always be careful not to overwater.
Result
They bloom from early to mid-summer to autumn.
Foxglove
Botanical Name: Digitalis purpurea
One of the pinnacles of English cottage garden is the Foxgloves. They are one of my favourite due to their unique bell-shaped flower, which is ideal for the bees to climb into. They come in a variety of colours and if you haven’t seen these in flower they consist of a couple dozen flowers at once that is truly beautiful. If you can get a couple of these in your garden you surely won’t be disappointed when they flower.
To grow Foxgloves:
Planting
Plant in the spring or autumn in moist and warm soil. If flowering plant straight away in summer. Avoid planting small plants in the autumn, instead keep in a sheltered spot in a pot over winter. The planting requirements can also depend on the foxgloves you have, so make sure to do a check before you plant. They prefer light shade and well draining soil with plenty of organic matter.
Care
Like usual, frequently water newly planted foxgloves until they are well established then they should only require watering when in summer after long dry spells. If kept in a container water regularly as the compost dries out. As mentioned above keep plenty of organic matter and then mulch over the soil and if in a poor quality soil add a balanced granular fertiliser. Deadhead foxgloves as soon as they have finished flowering (unless you want them to produce seeds).
Results
Foxgloves produce stunning flowers from June to September.
Wisteria
Botanical Name: Wisteria sinensis
Another magnificent plant that stands out among the college gardens and British countryside cottages. It is another one of my favourite plants that takes multiple years to grow but can last for hundreds more. This beautiful plants grows a strong woody stem, growing thick and spreads out often over cottage walls and produced beautiful mauve and white flowers. Thought It can take several years until you begin to see it flower and it does not always flower every year but due to its stunning appearance I had to add it to my list.
To grow Wisteria:
Planting
Plant between October and April in fertile and well draining soil. Plant theme where they will receive lots of sunlight if you want them to produce more flowers. Also, give them a trellis or wall to climb on (bearing in mind they can climb to over 10m). If you are planting into a container make sure to give it at least a 45cm wide pot. Give the plant a good watering while the plant gets established.
Care
Keep well watered, especially in soils that quickly dry out, also when newly planted or in dry spells. To help your Wisteria you can feed it in the spring and depending on your soil add the relative supplements. To help flowering you can prune five to six inches in July/August and in February by two to three buds to help the plant flower.
Results
Wisterias typically flower between April and June with a potential second flowering in August.
Sweet Williams
Botanical Name: Dianthus Barbatus
A beautiful flower bed plant that comes in a wide range of beautiful colours. You can get them in red, white, pink, scarlet and in either patterned or monochrome. They are loved by most pollinators including bees, so make a great bedding flower. Another great plant tha suits cottage gardens and perennial beds but just at home in a container.
![The pretty perennial is also known as sweet william [Photo: A. Jakusoviene/ Shutterstock.com]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ad8fc3_438d214c7a594124a31291c1e05c58f1~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_655,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/ad8fc3_438d214c7a594124a31291c1e05c58f1~mv2.jpg)
To grow Sweet Williams:
Planting
Sow in late spring (after the last frost) straight into the ground and keep the area weed-free (use a trowel as it is much better for the environment). If dry, water the soil before sowing but allow it to drain. Also, be aware that they don’t bloom in their first year. In the autumn transplant 30cm apart into their flowering position. They prefer to be in full sun but can tolerate light shade (but too much shade can make the plant become leggy and floppy). Keep them in well-draining, fertile, loamy and does best in neutral or slightly alkaline soils.
Care
As mentioned you will need to transplant the plant in autumn to 30cm apart into their flowing position and wait until the following year to flower. Keep the Sweet William well watered during dry spells and throughout the growing season. However, be careful not to overwater, as this can lead to disease. You can also fertilise while they are growing to help produce a lush bloom. Deadhead any dead flowers but avoid pruning in the fall. Add mulch to protect and insulate the roots over winter and If in a pot, move away from areas of wind, snow and ice.
Results
They will flower between May to October in the colours you have picked.
This is just a small list of some of my favourite flowers but there are a tremendous amount to pick from that will attract bees into your garden and help the pollinators. To truly help the bees and pollinators in your garden look at local wildflowers and look at a range of plants that bloom for as much of the year, from early spring to late autumn to help the bees and pollinators as long as you can in the year. Even weeds can be a source of food for the pollinators, so if you can put off mowing and let them bloom is another great way to get more flowers in your garden. I want to see bees thrive and part of this is seeing them harvest and collect pollen and nectar, so tag #GoneSustainable and #BeesBums on any pictures you have taken of bees you have caught in your garden with their heads in the flowers. Get growing!
Updated: Jul 18, 2023
There are so many books out there on wildlife, nature, plants and much more. They are fascinating, interesting and teach you so much of the natural world. I have always been a poor reader, something I am trying to actively change in my life to better my knowledge and enjoy a new hobby. Well I would defiantly say this has recently been working and I have a newfound love for reading. As you are aware, I am incredibly interested in nature, wildlife and doing things sustainable and being an eco-friendly individual. To inspire me with this I have been focusing on books about nature and our incredible world. Therefore, these are my top 5 nature books of 2022 that I have read, reviewed and which have changed my thinking or enlightened my life that I am recommending to you.
This is the first book I have picked up in my new quest to absorb written knowledge and I can tell you it is a great place to start. All I can say is, wow, there is so much to learn just about our forests and woods.. This book will teach you so much and an incredible amount you never thought would be related to trees. It is written by Peter Wohlleben, who is a German forester who has observed these woods, trees and forests his entire life. In this incredible fascinating book he teaches how tree help each other, migrate and communicate to each other in incredible and newly discovered ways. He goes into great depth of all the organisms that share the forests and how they help each other to thrive in the ‘survival of the fittest’ natural world.
It is clear that trees are immensely responsive to their environment and are social creatures that are vital to our survival. It is also clear that there is so much more to the little local woods to the major forests than you would have first thought. I believe there are two reasons this book fascinated me soo much. Firstly, I love nature and trees specifically, as they come in a huge array of sizes and shapes and just look incredible. Secondly, trees are hugely important to our survival and that of many, many animals, so deserve our admiration for this fact alone. If you want to learn more about the mystic woods, you use play in then I would defiantly recommend this book.
I have seen this book being recommend very highly for anyone looking to connect with nature. I will also be the first to say that this book does not disappoint. Written by Isabella Tree who along with the conservationist husband, Charlie Burrell transforms their farm from a struggling estate in Knepp to a thriving wildlife and nature haven. Along the way, as Isabella and her husband learn more about the ecology, she teaches this to us through the book, raising our awareness of the fragile habitats we and our wildlife lives in. This fascinating book goes through the impact of the farmland and the impact of the war through ‘dig for victory’. Alongside, the dependence on pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers. The book is an intriguing story of the farming industry and environment collapse in the UK and how Knepp is pulling themselves out of this by giving control of their land over to nature and its wildlife. I love how it delves into history and science relating it to nature and detailing how through the discoveries at the Knepp estate is changing the way we currently or up recently thought of our wildlife and the history of England's natural history.
Although I don’t agree with everything in the book and what they are doing at Knepp, it is a new perspective on rewilding and the history of our nature and ecology is refreshing and incredible intriguing. The book is thought provoking, changing how we farm, revitalise the soils and our entire ecosystem, which in turn improves our land increasing our food yields. If you read this book it will surely give you inspiration for the future of our farmlands and highlighting the huge importance for us to take note of the work done at Knepp. The only thing that bugs me is that I wish I could inherit a farm or a decent plot of land and follow in their footsteps, perhaps one day...
The magnificent snow leopard is my partners favourite animal. Easily understandable due to it being an isolated mysterious creature with a beyond elegant appearance. Due to this and it’s incredible rareness the snow leopard has become a fascinating most precious gem for people to find. Well this is what Peter Matthiessen does whilst assisting a friend on an exhibition to the Himalayas. He looks for the snow leopard with the same idealistic idea of hunting one down in one of the worlds most secluded places just to grasp a glimpse of its unrivalled magnificent, even if for just a few seconds.
The book mixes the sense of adventure, travel, both the highlights and the gruelling aspects with the spiritual awakening, self-reflection and desire to understand the world and personal enlightenment. Throughout the book he describes the incredible scenic views he witnesses along the extended trek to find mountain goats. All the while seeming to be so close, yet so far from the magnificent snow leopard. The journey takes them through picturesque scenes, as well to ancient temples, meeting mystic people and making friends, essentially everything you would want from an adventure.
The book is a leading inspiration for numerous naturalists, spiritualists and adventures alike. As well as a well written book that even helps with accepting failure through realising the incredible wonders and experience you can have. It is a book that makes you yearn for adventure, nature, wildlife and unrivalled scenes of beauty and is likely to ignite passion in anyone reading it to do the same.
Now the books I have read so far has made me want to run in the fields, explore the ancient forests, and go on a mountain adventure. However, one thing was missing, the water. I have always loved bodies of water in any form, the sea, lakes, rivers or ponds. Therefore, I picked up this book which dives into the heart of the English countryside stable of the humble pond.
John Lewis-Stempel goes through the daily running at his farm and his frequent encounters with the pond there, another he visits in France, as well as a handful of others on his travels throughout a year across each season (Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn). As previously, I don’t agree with everything he does. However, I love his enthusiasm for the ponds he comes across that seem to give him a welcome escape from life. His interactions with these quintessential ponds makes me want to find one of my very own to enjoy. His use of words really manages to capture the essence of ponds, the feelings, the smells that bring back memories of my childhood adventures.
He also adds much to his book, through helping to identify what to look for and what you might be able to see, as well as what makes ponds so important. He takes this further through further detailing the history of ponds, how they were used, maintained and are a huge part of our heritage. The books gives you a great glimpse at ponds and all the life surrounding them, whilst also providing a number of poems to further create the countryside atmosphere. Ponds are clearly a strong beating heart to British wildlife. Even at the end John Lewis-Stempel goes into how to create a number of different ponds, plant them, maintain them and enjoy them, whilst also going into depth of how you can add features to further help wildlife to flourish. A great unique book.
Now, I don’t know anyone who has not seen at least one documentary of David Attenborough’s. Also, whilst watching it not feel as though the cinematography had taken you to another world alongside the information and artistic language David Attenborough strings out helping to inform and intrigue you further into these varying worlds. Well the great Sir David Attenborough has brought this to the written word in this book, which just by his name alone should be enough of a recommendation, however, if not you should definitely pick this up and you will enjoy nature more and be even more informed about it.
This book goes through amazing aspects of the earth and the incredibly varying environments that are all unique, incredible and hold simply amazing creatures throughout our planet. The book beautifully brings these biomes from across the earth to life in perfect snapshots, detailing what it is like there and the animals that compete to live in these places. The more you get into it the more it will amaze you the different realms that exist right now, all while being informational and interesting. Would probably say it has been my most enjoyed book out of the 5 and one you should quickly snap up.
Conclusions
I would defiantly say that last year I have a newfound love for reading. I would say I am incredibly impressed with these first few books I have picked up and they have done so much to inspire me to keep reading and learning more about our natural world. They have taught me so much about the world we live in and the animals we share it with. Reading these books always brings new life in my fascination and amazement of nature and its wildlife and I would recommend each one of them to anyone who has the same interests and passions. Let me know what you think of these books and tell me what nature books you would recommend.
