What plant do bees and butterflies love the most in your garden?

[Liquorish]

I always see them at the lavender, sunflowers and verbena in my garden. I have limited space but I’d love to plant some more thing this year that would benefit them.

They're all over the honeysuckle at the moment!

Right now, my pink blossomed Horse Chestnut and my brillian yellow Labernum

Buddleja. Insect honey pot!

most popular in my garden - south- is a mini fuschia. It’s a regular sized fuschia bush, but with small flowers and it is in flower for most of the year. It is constantly buzzing with bees.

Knautia macedonica, loganberry, tayberry, blackberry

Was wondering when someone would mention lupins. My grandad had masses of them and I always remember the bees and the 'polleny' smell of them.

Persicaria firetail - there are loads on it every morning when it is in flower. I can hear the buzzing as soon as I walk out of the back door.

Echinops
Chives when in flower
Foxgloves

Hebe used to vibrate with them as per PP.

At the moment Valerian and hardy geraniums but that’s what’s in flower. Also droopy mink coloured alliums. Anything droopy cup shaped in fact - fox gloves, pentesmons, delphiniums.

As for butterflies, my nasturtium patch felt like a white cabbage nursery last year if you don’t mind that!

Borage

Cotoneaster, catmint, orgegano, foxgloves, sedum and sweet rocket, alliums.

Quince, apple, ice plant (sedum?), foxgloves, borage, nasturtiums, broad beans, Hardy geraniums

Lavender,catmint,thyme at the moment.Later in the summer I have several caryopteris shrubs that are smothered in bees.I now only buy plants that attract pollinators.Nothing sterile comes into our garden.

Are anyone’s foxgloves doing anything this year? I’ve just realised this is the first year none have appeared

My foxgloves are doing well. I grew them from seed I put in last year.

The bees like my oregano flowers. I planted about 30 lavender bushes for them and they gave those a hard swerve.

Cerinthe major Purpurascens is amazing for the bees. It's happy on banks competing with the grass. Survives all but the harshest frost. Spreads very easily.

www.sarahraven.com/products/cerinthe-major-purpurascens

I find that foxgloves I buy or grow from seed fare well, but they (like cerinthe) don’t self-seed. I’ve got a couple of good ones about to flower.

Californian lilac

Agree with everything posted so far, but particularly anything in the mint, carrot, allium and borage families. Not in my garden, but in one I used to work in:

Hoheria
Eucryphia

Both large shrubs/trees with pretty white flowers that the bees adore.

Leptospermum another winner.

My advice would be to buy cultivars with single flowers because pollinators struggle to access the nectar and pollen in double flowers. So for eg if I wanted dahlias I'd go for Bishop of Llandaff or Moonshine, or one of the species such as merckii.

Thanks all! So much inspiration. Only problem is, now I want to plant ALL the things. Hard to pick.

How could I forget the foxgloves? They’re the only reason I’ve had bees buzzing away in the garden for days since they’ve flowered. I had a visitor tell me they are weeds but I love them and so do the bees.

@dubyalass that’s interesting because that’s actually why I made the thread. I’d read something recently about the bees struggling with doubled headed flowers and I’d just planted some. I’d rather plant and grow something that attracts them and is helpful/easy.

@Summerhillsquare that’s stunning!

@TheSpottedZebra thanks for the recommendations, I’d like to help anything and everything I can in the garden which includes moths. I didn’t realise a tobacco plant could look so blooming lovely. And I love holly! I didn’t know bees loved it.

@Lonelycrab such a cute shot. You’re raspberries must be doing so well with all the help!

I have wild marjoram in my lawn, and also Wild Fleabane (a yellow daisy like flower) - both attract insects better than my buddeia.

https://wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowers/F/Fleabane%28Common%29/Fleabane(Common)_2008_08_05_Southport_Ainsdale_Freshfields_018p1.jpg