Double flower Hellebores
Love some advice regarding hellebores. Normally i tend to avoid double-flowers as they can prevent access for pollinators; however, in this case the plant remains pretty open despite double-flowers from what i've seen. However, if anyone has any experience of these flowers and pollinator interest compared to single flower hellebores that would be great.
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I have both single and double hellebores and I haven't seen much activity around either to be honest. But then I do have lots of other flowering plants at the same time so they may be more attractive to pollinators. Having said that my single hellebores produce huge numbers of seedlings so pollinators must be doing their job there.
It depends on how the flower has doubled. If it is just the number of petals which have increased and the stamen and anthers are still viable then bees can still feed from the plants. In some forms though the sexual parts have become petaloid and these are sterile so no pollen for the bees. You can only really tell by looking at the middle of a double flower. We have lots of doubles which do produce seed.
Thanks for the replies. I'll get some single ones for now. Ladybird - what plants do you find particularly useful for pollinators at that time of the year?
Pulmonaria are great for early spring pollinators
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
As well as the plant mentioned by Dove I have lots of primulas and forget-me-nots, ajuga, bluebells and witch hazel. The bees seem to like these.