Hi all,
Trying to bring more life into this new build with a particular focus on pollinators of all sorts.
I want it to look like a cottage garden with height and colour.
Plan on the front is raised beds as the soil is too shallow. Plan on the side is full planting and cramming it as full as possible.
Just after some thoughts on varieties/perennials/best bug friendly plants etc..
Thanks in advance.
by chickenfatherdeluxe
11 Comments
Maybe lavender?
I see these absolutely covered in pollinators in my garden: globe thistle, verbena bonariensis, sunflowers, scabious, lavender, flowering chives, alliums, and salvia.
I recently bought this book, and think it would make useful reading for this project: The Modern Cottage Garden: A Fresh Approach to a Classic Style https://amzn.eu/d/92mMbA3
For a cottage feel I’d look at getting some delphiniums at the back to add some height. I’d recommend the magic fountain variety as these aren’t overly big.
Russian sage blue spires. Bees love it and it’s robust.
Send an update next year! And foxgloves and hollyhocks
I planted cosmos this year, loads of flowers, fairly tall, bees love it.
I have just moved house and brought just a couple of pots with me and in one pot a plant popped up, I do not know where it came from but it’s now about 5ft tall and packed full of honey bees, bumble bees 🐝 it’s a Honey Clover. I can’t believe how big it is just in a pot but the bees love it. That would look good at the back. Also don’t forget feed those flowers, my pots are the best they have ever been this year by making my own banana peel water and a weekly feed.
Salvia hotlips flower for ever, they’re really good. Hollyhocks also give a lot of joy and Verbena bonariensis are good and give height
I second verbena and scabious. Also, nepeta, rudbeckia, and a few geums for a cottage garden look that insects will like.
Alyssum smells great and bees love it too. Its an annual but self seeds easy and fills out quick too