Damnation to double flowers
Woodgreen wonderboy
Posts: 2,322
in Plants
The trend for too long now has been to develop, market and grow large, blowsy, double flowers. Not sure if nature ever evolved any doubles or whether they are an unnautural abberation. And what about the poor bees and their various cousins struggling to get their tongues into them. They haven't had time to evolve long enough to cope! So when you go shopping for plants, seeds etc. this spring....
Think Single
Simple flowers can be beatiful too....
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You are preaching to the choir.
i have a cottage garden and today saw a huge bumble bee go into some rocks on my bank and not come out i hope they will nest there will keep an eye on them.
I think everybody on the forum knows about the decline of our bees and most of us are doing our level best to help our little friends.
This year, I am planning a new border specifically with the bees in mind. I noticed just how many of them visited the same border last year as it was predominantly planted with Johnsons Blue so it gave me the idea.
I've divided it now to make space for single flowering plants which will give them a helping hand. I have some more hardy geraniums to go in and have started off Cosmos, Echinacea,Rudbeckia,Oriental poppy Dwarf Allegro and an annual that seems to have been forgotten as of late - Sweet Sultan (Amberboa Moschata )
I also have trellis panels at the back of this border so have sown Canary Creeper up to now and also have some single flowered Clematis .
I am really looking forward to this project and am looking forward to later on in the if everything goes to plan.
Sorry - that should have been later on in the year.
I agree, the double form is also often quite ugly, especially in Hollyhocks.
I grow lots of lavender and the bees seem to love it...also geraniums, fuchsias, , clematis, honeysuckle, roses - bush, rambler and climbers, rosemary, lilys, peonies, numerous summer flowering bulbs...I'm still planting up my borders so any flower the bees really love? (that slugs don't!)
Slughunter - OH keeps bees. This is not exclusive but very firm favourites in our garden are in winter the heather and mahonia, later the pyracantha and autumn michaelmas daisies. These are all guaranteed to be teeming with bees - in fact you can actually hear them buzzing there's so much activity! (Plus they are not troubled by slugs
)
In our garden the Bees love Agastache,Eupatorium,Prunus Kojo No Mai,Basil African Blue and of course - Sunflowers
Pam LL x