Plants to attract pollinators in partial shade: buds and blooms​

James Lawrence, RHS Principal Horticultural Advisor, has designed this simple, attractive, and most importantly, sustainable border design for you to try at home, with plants that are easy to grow, widely available and look good together.

James Lawrence

Pollinating insects are in decline, but there are plenty of flowering plants to help them. Increasing flowering plants in our gardens can also improve fruit and vegetables: with more pollinating insects around, harvests will be bigger and better.

The plants included below provide a succession of pollen and nectar for insects across the growing season.

The Ajuga provides some ground cover and will help prevent erosion of bare soil. Ground cover plants can also help to reduce moisture evaporation from the soil surface and suppress weed growth.

Until the plants have filled out, an organic mulch, preferably homemade compost, can help to improve soil moisture retention and weed suppression. Mulches should be spread when the soil is already moist to help trap some of that moisture before it dries out in summer.

1 - Viburnum tinus ‘Eve Price’ is a bushy, medium-sized evergreen shrub with leathery dark green leaves. Flattened clusters of deep pink buds

A bud is a small, undeveloped shoot that contains the potential for new growth. Buds are typically found on stems, where they can be apical (found at the tip) or axillary (found between leaf axils) and may develop into leaves, shoots or flowers. open to small, starry white flowers over a very long period, beginning in late winter, and are followed by deep metallic-blue berries.

2 - Lonicera ‘Serotina’ is a deciduous

Deciduous refers to plants (mainly trees and shrubs) that lose their leaves seasonally, usually during autumn. This is a natural process triggered by the season's shorter days and lower temperatures and allows plants to conserve energy during the winter months. climber with oval, dark green leaves with whitish undersides. The fragrant flowers, which are deep red-purple on the outside and yellow on the inside, are 4cm long and held in clusters at the end of the stems.

3 - Hydrangea paniculata ‘Big Ben’ is an upright, slightly spreading deciduous shrub with light green leaves and reddish-purple young stems that turn brown as they age. The flowers have a distinctive tapered conical shape, opening pale green, changing to greenish-white then maturing to deep pink. This cultivar

Gardeners often use the word variety when referring to a specific plant, but the correct botanical term is 'cultivar'. Whichever word you use, it means a distinctive plant or plants, given a specific cultivar name and usually bred to enhance certain characteristics, such as flower or fruit size, colour, flavour or fragrance, plant size, hardiness, disease resistance, etc. Additionally, it is worth knowing that, botanically, variety has another meaning - it refers to a naturally-occurring distinct plant that only has slight differences in its looks. For example, Malva alcea var. fastigiata differs from typical plants by having an upright habit. is very floriferous and strongly scented.

4 -Astrantia ‘Burgundy Manor’ produces large, deep red flowers with spiky, pincushion-like centres in summer. This is a strong cultivar that establishes quickly and flowers repeatedly.

5 - Skimmia japonica ‘Rubella’ is a compact, bushy evergreen shrub with dark green leaves and showy red buds in late winter that open to fragrant white flowers in early spring.

6 - Ajuga reptans ‘Catlin’s Giant’ is a low-growing, semi-evergreen perennial

Perennials are plants that live for multiple years. They come in all shapes and sizes and fill our gardens with colourful flowers and ornamental foliage. Many are hardy and can survive outdoors all year round, while less hardy types need protection over winter. The term herbaceous perennial is used to describe long-lived plants without a permanent woody structure (they die back to ground level each autumn), distinguishing them from trees, shrubs and sub-shrubs. , forming a mat of glossy purple-brown leaves and spikes of blue flowers in late spring and early summer.

Using scientific evidence, our extensive experience and the records of gardeners and beekeepers, we’ve selected a range of year-round flowering Plants for Pollinators to tackle the decline in pollinator numbers. Visit our Plants for Pollinators page to discover more of the best plants for attracting pollinators.

Many insects are suffering from a lack of pollinator-friendly plants in the countryside to provide nectar and pollen. By offering a good range of pollinator friendly plants in our gardens, we can help these essential creatures to thrive. Increasing biodiversity

The variety of living organisms (plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms) in a particular environment. Boosting the biodiversity of your garden has many benefits, including supporting wildlife, improving soil health and reducing the likelihood of pest and disease problems. is also benefical for encouraging a healthy garden ecosystem in general.

Choose plants with a variety of different flower types and structures in order to attract a wider range of pollinators across the seasons. A succession of overlapping flowering times ensures there is always something available.

Using the ethos of ‘right plant, right place’ to create a sustainable planting combination is great for the environment. It helps to avoid waste and the use of products and practices needed to try and help ailing plants, such as applying fertiliser. It also creates robust, long-lived planting that benefits soil health and garden biodiversity

The variety of living organisms (plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms) in a particular environment. Boosting the biodiversity of your garden has many benefits, including supporting wildlife, improving soil health and reducing the likelihood of pest and disease problems. . For more information about sustainable gardening, please see the RHS Sustainability Strategy.

Additionally, this combination will also attract more pollinating insects into the garden, creating better diversity by in turn encouraging birds and other wildlife into the garden.