Which plants in your garden do insects love?

[dubyalass]

Just been putting the washing out and the teasels, Verbena bonariensis, hyssop, Heleniums and Fuchsias were all covered in various bees. I'm currently planning a slight redesign of my garden and want it as pollinator friendly as possible. I'm on very sandy soil with plenty of sunshine so am including the obvious stuff like mint and carrot family, but rather than using lists on the internet I'd like to know what gets the most attention in your garden, particularly if it's not what you'd expect.

Thanks in advance!

honeysuckle - covered in moths by night, bees & butterflies by day
lavender - 100's of bees in the sun yesterday!
Agree with the herbs: oregano and thyme - the bees love these too

The good thing about all these plants is that they come back every year and are fine on dry soil too

In our garden it’s:
Mallow
Borage
Foxgloves
Dahlia

There’s another one that is always covered in bees but the name escapes me at the moment.

I grow runner beans in the flower bed just for the bees, I can't stand them but they prefer them to the French beans. I think they prefer the red flowers.

What about shrubs? Someone mentioned Abelia which is a great shout; my dad has a Kolkwitzia which is also favoured by bumblebees. Lonicera fragrantissima would be good for some early forage. I'd quite like to have some winter and early spring flowering things for those sunny winter days where the bumblebees are out.

Allium sphaerocephalon is always covered in bees.

As is a yellow flowered shrub thing whose name currently completely escapes me. I'll come back to that one...

And if you have a meadow area, yellow rattle. Great for bees, and if you leave the seeds also popular with goldfinches in the autumn (although not as popular as evening primrose, which they absolutely love).

Try caryopteris (the only plant I liked of the previous owners and it's gone and died l). I had a go at aesclipias (from the us, the food of monarch butterflies) lovely orange perennial but it didn't like my clay. Achellia. But top pick in my garden nepeta - can I recommend not getting seven hills giant though unless you do have a giant garden... Also geranium Rozanne, scabious and knautia, lavender, organo, hyssop and echinops.

Over winter & early spring we have a couple of types of rosemary, hellebore, winter jasmine, sarcococoa & spring bulbs.

@BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn broom? Laburnum also popular but it's more of a tree ..

For winter to spring, you can’t beat winter honeysuckle - Lonicera fragrantissima. It starts to flower in December and continues to March/April, with scented flowers, perfect for any bumblebees around.

https://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/lonicera-fragrantissima/classid.4101/

Lavender, Cosmos, Dahlias, salvias, cone flowers, jasmine, zinnias …

No. Flat flowers, round petals, very prominent stamens. Bush about 6ft tall. Dark green oval leaves.

Ooh.... stumped. Potentilla doesn't get that big...

I’ve got a passionflower that the bees and bumblebees are obsessed with. They creep though so take up room very quickly! Ours seeded the first year we put it in as well, so we technically have two.

@rempy Caryopteris for sure! I recently bought a Perovskia and thought they’d be all over that but barely a sniff. I wish I had room for a Eucryphia and a Hoheria because the ones at work were always humming with insects, but my garden is only small.

@Iminpatchinghell I’m definitely putting a passionflower in. Absolutely love them. Might have to sneak a cutting from someone round the corner.

Thyme
Oregano
lavender
Veronicastrum - they are going nigs for this
Echinacea
late summer it’s liatris that keeps them going
foxgloves

Hypericum! Not sure what variety though.

Scabious -that’s the one I couldn’t remember!

Could be Hidcote - although if so it's taller than average.

Buddleia for butterflies.

Currently my cauliflower and cabbage plants. I have a garden full of white butterflies 🤔

My perennial Geranium 'Orion' (purple/blue) constantly overrun with bees 🐝 😁

We’ve put in a pollinator border from Crocus this year with yarrow, Rozanne geranium, bright pink penstemons and some type of thistle - the bees have been all over it 😍.

They are also loving lavender, cosmos, erysium Bowles mauve and scabious.

For early flowering shrubs you could try forsythia?

In my garden the favourites are

• Lavender
• salvia
• hemp agrimony
• raspberry bushes
• Buddleja
• greater knapweed
• mint (various kinds)

we have a huge number of butterflies this year. maybe less bees than usual but hard to say accurately.