Real Homes - The three flowers you need to attract wildlife to your garden, according to Monty Don

Posted on 19 July, 2021

Photo by Claudiu Morut on Unsplash

Written by Millie Hurst for Real Homes

If you want to attract wildlife to your garden, there are lots of ways to go about it. British gardening expert and writer Monty Don recently spoke about three stunning plants that are particularly popular among honey bees.

Not only do they look beautiful, adding vibrant colour to your plot, but they'll also invite pollinators. In a recent episode of Gardener's World, Monty Don recommends starting as early as you can in the year with wildlife gardening and carrying on for as long as possible.

AGASTACHE

Image by Martin Rupprechter from Pixabay

The first plant he mentions is the Agastache 'blackadder', also known as the giant hyssop. It has a long stem with lots of lovely purple flowers.

'Agastache is one of the favourite plants for bees,' Monty says. 'It has these spires of flowers, rich purple from mid-summer right into early autumn.'

'Give it some sunshine, reasonable soil and that will be a magnet for the bees,' he says.

HOLLYHOCK

Image by ZEBULON72 from Pixabay

In the episode, he then goes on to plant a much taller plant, the hollyhock. 'Hollyhocks are fantastic for insects, with nice open, big flowers,' Monty Don says.

'But, if you are going to buy hollyhocks particularly to encourage wildlife, do buy singles rather than doubles. That means each flower is a single, saucer-shaped flower rather than one with convoluted petals.'

This is because bees and other insects find it hard to access the pollen and nectar from flowers with complicated flower heads.

Hollyhocks need good drainage and plenty of sunshine. Planting some hollyhocks is also a brilliant way to create height and a cottage garden feel in any area of your garden.

WILD CLARY

Image by Marc Miraille from Pixabay

Wild clary, also known as Salvia Verbenaca, is a much smaller plant, but another that bees will love. It needs full sun to grow healthily and, similar to the Agastache, it has beautiful purple flowers that bees are particularly attracted to.

Flowers are essential to pollinators - to keep the bees coming back, read our guide on how to make a bee-friendly garden, which includes lots of other plants, from mint to snapdragon. To expand the kinds of wildlife in your garden, a garden pond will work wonders.

We'll be keeping an eye out for these on our next garden centre trip.

Millie Hurst

Millie is a homes writer renting in North London. She loves vintage furniture, candles, Interior Design Masters and a Facebook Marketplace bargain. She has previously written for Fabulous, Stylist and Marie Claire.

To read the original article written by Millie Hurst for Real Homes, please visit: www.realhomes.com/news/three-flowers-attract-wildlife-garden-monty-don

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