Veronica longifolia

ooh! bee :)

I do have rather a lot! They seem to like my flowers.....:-)))))))))

Awesome :D :D you must be doing something right :P (and i'm quite jelous of it) I'm hoping to get lots of bee friendly plants into my garden now i'm fixing it up, but unfortunately at the moment they're having to live off the few tough things able to survive the wilderness...

- do you have any recomendations of fairly hardy plants that they like?

How long have you got??? LOL. Too late at night to type them out now - but I'll look at my plant list and tell you some of the best ones tomorrow.

Thankyou :) It would be well appreciated :D

Hallo Jennyfer:

Any of the Veronicas - V. longifolia. V. spicata etc. Verbena bonariensis and V. corymbosa, V rigida if it's hardy with you - it does seed itself if it's not.

Salvia nemorosa - you can get purple, pink and white ones. Origanum laevigata 'Herrenhausen', Scabiosa, Penstemon, hardy Hebes - I have one called 'Caledonia' which is a dwarf one, and v.v.v. hardy. Lavenders, especially the English ones, hmmm...Thymus...there are plenty of those with different coloured leaves, but the one that attracts most bees is a creeping one - Thymus serpyllum. Verbascum, too. Agastache foeniculum, any of the Nepeta family - e.g. 'Six Hills Giant' or smaller ones.

My brain has stopped functioning, except to tell you that one shrub that is literally buzzing with bees when it's in flower is Photinia 'Redstart' - as Buddleja does, and they attract butterflies, too. So does my large Hebe, and also Pyracantha flowers.

If I think of any more, I'll tell you. I hope that list helps??

Yes thankyou :D help is always good because i'm new at this :) so I shall be on the look out for some of these especially the veronica and salvias (+ i've just ordered some penstemon and verbascum seeds :P)

-i sowed some Jasione Laevis 'sheeps bit scabious' the other day, but don't know whether they count as regular scabiosa or whether its just a misleading common name...

But i do have lots of young english lavender (i had hoped to make a hedge...) so hopefully next year that will flower if i find somewhere to put it :) we've also got a hebe we bought at tatton which needs somewhere to go

Thankyou very much for the suggestions :):)

No, I don't think so - I haven't noticed any interest in my Jasione flowers from bees...they are pretty, though!

I also remembered Sedum spectabile - it flowers in the autumn and is a butterfly magnet - so it could also be enjoyed by bees, couldn't it!

You're very welcome, by the way. :-)))

oh well, thats helped clear it up though :P
for sedums we have autumn joy, which has loads of buds on it, but is another plant waiting for a home... everythings kindof held in standby while i clear a space for this big border we're putting in the front garden at the mo... i'm slightly terrified because its my first and i'm worried that i'll get all the hights and spacings wrong... but kindof excited for next year when (hopefully) everything will start flowering and it will feel like a proper garden :P do all sedums work the same for bee attraction, or is it just the odd one? (more questions - sorry)
and thanks again for the help :D

No probs. I think it's mostly the large-flowered ones, like 'Autumn Joy' that attract the insects...so you've got a good start...:-))

As to your border - make a little sketch, and check out the heights of the plants you want in there. Then it's just a case of drawing circles on your plan with the name of the plant on it. It's a good idea to plant in odd numbers - it always looks better - that's if you have room for three the same - or even five if it's a HUGE area! Otherwise, 'pull' the border together by planting the same plant further along - with some others in between. Remember too to mix the flower shapes - not too many too close together with 'spikes', plant some 'daisy-shaped' and/or 'fluffy' flowers in there too.

Look at varying leaf shapes, and also try to add some evergreens if possible, for 'structure'.

I hope this helps, and I haven't scared you! The main thing is to have fun planning, choosing and planting. :-))))))

haha, just a little :P it is all a little overwhelming and it sounds like theres an awful lot to consider :P I can post a pic of how it is atm... all bare earth with weeding still needed at the back :P But its two fork lengths deep if that means anything and fairly long and connected to other overgrown beds which i haven't even got to yet (the ground elder is waiting for me!)': Drawing sounds like a good idea though, so i'll get the measuring tape out and start sketching this week sometime :D *tries not to panic*
Thankyou!! (again)
+ ahhh! spikey flowers... don't think i've even got any of those yet :P

You will have if you go for Salvias and Veronicas!

Don't get panicked - there's lots of help available.........:-))))))

Poor you, with ground elder. :-(((

yup, one i haven't actually dealt with yet (maybe one of the reasons i've avoided that patch :P) but i've been told its there... so far i've just been battling the horsetails and bindweed... and thats been enough!!
I think this is what comes of taking on a garden thats been left to itself for i don't know how many years.. but my mum's got a bad back so had to ditch the flowers and just do veggies... so its been left to itself. That said i barely remember a time with defined borders anyway, so it must have been about 15yrs ago :P

Oooh! Some real 'nasties' in there, then! You'll have your work cut out to deal with them! :-((((

lol, i'm trying not to think about it... started off with this idealistic thing about not using weedkiller aswell, not sure how long thats going to last

If you don't, you're stuck with smothering the weeds with black plastic for at least a year, probably 2, plus dig, dig, dig first. I think I'd give in!