Plants to attract pollinators in shade: bright flowers

James Lawrence, RHS Principal Horticultural Advisor, has designed this simple, attractive, and most importantly, sustainable border design for a shady spot, which you can try at home with purple- and blue-flowered 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 Bergenia and Geranium provide 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 - Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’ is an evergreen shrub with long, spiny, glossy, pinnate leaves and clustered spikes of bright yellow fragrant flowers in winter, followed by blue-black berries.

2 - Viburnum opulus 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. shrub which forms the rear centrepiece. Flattened clusters of white flowers, borne in late spring and early summer, are followed by long-lasting, translucent red berries. The deeply-lobed green leaves turn shades of orange and red in autumn.

3 - Sarcococca hookeriana var. digyna ‘Purple Stem’ is an evergreen shrub that gives some solidity to the centre of the scheme. Small, glossy green leaves are joined by beautifully fragrant white flowers in winter.

4 - Digitalis grandiflorais a clump-forming 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. to 80cm tall, with dark evergreen foliage and upright spires of creamy-yellow tubular flowers in summer.

5 - Geranium phaeum ‘Album’ is a herbaceous perennial with relatively large, pure white flowers with golden anthers. The lobed leaves are mid-green.

6 - Bergenia ‘Harzkristall’ is a compact, clump-forming evergreen perennial with rounded, shiny dark green leaves and clusters of bell-shaped, pink-flushed white flowers on upright, reddish brown stems in spring.

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.