We are seeing a pollinator decline due to many factors. Bees and other pollinators are dying off due to a number of reasons. Mostly because of climate change, but also because of the amount of pesticides being used in farming and gardens. We need to make changes to how we garden as a nation to stop an even further decline.
Top flowers to plant to stop the pollinator decline
Flowers aren’t only beautiful, they also play a key role in our ecosystem. Did you know that we rely on up to 30% of our food on pollinators? That’s quite a heavy load of our little pollinators to bear, So as gardeners, it’s important that we grow some of the flowers below to help our pollinators do their jobs. This list will attract more bees and butterflies to your garden and help our ecosystem, it’s a win win.
- Butterfly bush
- Coneflower
- Dahlia
- Daisies
- Geranium
- Honeysuckle
- Lavender
- Marigold
- Snapdragon
- Sunflower
These flowers will be like you creating a pollinators very own garden café for our pollinators. Let’s be more about Flower Power and save our pollinator numbers for decreasing even further. These flowers are available at most local garden centers and are easy to maintain. Lavender is just about the easiest plant to keep going year after year, just cut it back each autumn and it will almost double in size the following year. Sunflowers seeds go straight into the soil during spring and no care is needed (apart from a bit of watering.) Marigolds make beautiful border flowers, so stock up on them and deadhead when needed and more will grow.
Don’t be afraid to try new varieties of flowers, your garden and pollinator friends will thank you for giving them as many options as possible. Pop along to your local garden center with your shopping list and make a plan of which you’ll buy and where you’ll plant them. Don’t forget, you can also plant in containers. Perfect for a splash of colour on patios and more for our bees and butterflies to land on.
