Top 10 patio plants for bees

It’s hard to escape the buzz surrounding bees at the moment. Just as we’re realising how important they (and other pollinating insects) are to us, we’re discovering just how much human activity is putting them in danger.

Luckily, gardeners can play a big part giving a helping hand to the wild creatures who share our world. One of the most fundamental ways we can do this is to plant the right kinds of flowers and lots of them, to provide food for bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other pollinators.

New cosmos are out of this world

The Cosmos Apollo series have shorter stems, making them useful in containers

All three varieties in the British-bred Apollo Series are some of the very best shorter cosmos - and the bees and butterflies love them. Ideal in patio containers, where growing tall cosmos would be unrealistic, these varieties grow to about knee height and their white, pink and carmine flowers open over a long period from June to autumn. Water, feed and

Deadheading is the process of removing spent flowers from plants to encourage more blooms and prevent seed production. This helps to redirect the plant's energy into producing more flowers rather than producing seeds.

Colours that pack a punch

Dahlia Happy Single Flame will add a wow factor to the patio 

The dark-leaved Dahlia Happy Single Series look great on a patio – among them, Happy Single Flame certainly stands out. Being single, they’re much more pollinator-friendly than the many other forms of dahlias like balls or pompoms where the nectar and pollen are less accessible to insects. The fiery red petals fade to yellow at their base and all is set against sultry, dark foliage. And the plants always remain manageable, never getting taller than waist high.

A plant you can rely on

Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ just keeps on flowering, making it a useful addition to the patio

Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ is a lovely

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.

A method of growing new plants from parts of an existing plant, such as sections of root, stem, leaf or bud. When prepared correctly and planted in the right conditions, they can produce roots and eventually become independent plants. There is a wide range of different methods for taking cuttings, depending on the plant and time of year.

cuttings

Not just in white

Lobularia maritima ‘Violet Queen’ is great as colourful edging and ground cover

More often seen in white, alyssum, Lobularia maritima, creeps around and makes fragrant annual ground cover or trails from pots. The Easter Bonnet Series comes in seven other colours including yellow, violet and rich red. And although the individual flowers are tiny and provide but a small nectar supply individually, they open in huge numbers and appeal to a variety of pollinators.

Their low, creeping habit is ideal spreading across sunny paving or spilling over the sides of containers. Hardy annuals, they grow to just 15cm high.

Shady patio? No problem

Pieris japonica ‘Valley Valentine’ thrives in a large pot in a shady spot

A shady patio is the ideal site for a pieris – in particular because it thrives in large containers which, in areas with unsuitable garden soil, can be filled with the ericaceous

Can refer to either home-made garden compost or seed/potting compost: • Garden compost is a soil improver made from decomposed plant waste, usually in a compost bin or heap. It is added to soil to improve its fertility, structure and water-holding capacity. Seed or potting composts are used for growing seedlings or plants in containers - a wide range of commercially produced peat-free composts are available, made from a mix of various ingredients, such as loam, composted bark, coir and sand, although you can mix your own.

Colourful, robust and dwarf

Rudbeckia hirta ‘Toto’ adds a splash of sunshine wherever it’s planted

Neat, long flowering and with vivid golden petals surrounding a bold chocolate-purple disk, Rudbeckia hirta ‘Toto’ is impressive. It also appeals to hoverflies and bees, as well as anyone stretched out on the sun lounger, and demonstrates the apparently contrasting qualities of being dwarf but also vigorous. Grows to about 25cm tall.

The large flowers look up boldly from branched plants over a long season in summer and autumn; deadhead carefully to avoid leaving unsightly stalks. Grow as a half-hardy annual.

Secret scent

Sarcococca ‘Dragon Gate’ flowers in winter and has an amazing fragrance 

What we mean by ‘secret’ is that it’s easy to miss the white winter flowers of Sarcococca ‘Dragon Gate’ because they’re usually hidden among the evergreen foliage of this small shrub. But the scent is unmissable, and if you grow it you’ll be looking around for the source of the fragrance. The small white flowers, their scent attracting precocious bees and other pollinators, open at the leaf joints but are usually hidden by the neat glossy leaves.

Pastel tones for autumn

Lilac ‘Coombe Fishacre’ is a star performer for autumn

Michaelmas daisies are superb food plants for many pollinators, although double-flowered forms are certainly far less valuable than single-flowered types. ‘Coombe Fishacre’ is valued for autumn patio colour and insect attractiveness because of its generous flower production over many weeks late on in the season. And each small, lilac flower has an eye that opens yellow and matures to raspberry pink, adding to their appeal. Shorter than many varieties (grows to just under 1m high), and naturally bushy, the flowers are enjoyed by butterflies, bees and all manner of pollinators.

Long season appeal

Verbena rigida can be grown an annual plant or a perennial in a more sheltered place

Verbena rigida is a perennial that’s not always hardy in the garden, but shunted into a sheltered place for the winter, it has a good chance. Or enjoy it as an annual. As patio plants go it has one of the longest of all flowering seasons, from June almost to November if deadheaded promptly. Especially popular with butterflies, the boldly branching stems are topped with clusters of purple flowers and its open habit allows other plants to intermingle.