Thankyou Bilbo, that's an idea for me to pursue. I've not had success with scabious in the past but haven't tried cosmos. You have really helped me here and I am so pleased to have a suggestion. Cosmos are very pretty too.

Hiya Merlin and welcome x My viola and verbena always have a bee or two on them...not noticed many insects on alyssum x think Marigolds are very popular with insects too, but I dont grow them as the slugs eat them the minute they are planted in my garden

Basically it is very simple, any plant which produces pollen and/or nectar will be good for bees and hoverflies. Double flowers generally do not,so if you avoid them you should be ok.

Thankyou Magna. I fancy Verbena. Owdboggy, how does one one know which plants produce nectar or pollen. I know to avoid doubles. Forgive my ignorance.

Generally speaking, the highly bred plants (F1 hybrids) such as surfinia petunias tend not to produce nectar. Not sure about busy lizzies and begonia bedders, but I can't say I've ever noticed any bee activity on them. Lobelia does though, is popular with bees here, and sometimes pelargoniums, although rarely visited by bees in my experience. Occasionally you see a pollinated pelargonium, so I guess sometimes they are visited, so must be producing something.

How could i forget Lobelia...............adore the stuff!!

You need to look at the centre of the plants. If there are anthers and stamen then the chances are it is going to produce pollen/nectar. If you can see them then so can the bees etc. The other thing to try is shaking a flower over your hand and seeing if pollen falls out.

Thanks Bamboo and Owdboggy. So simple really.

Another good tip Bilbo. I wish I could file them all in one place. On second thoughts, I'm sure there is a way but I'm not IT savvy enough to know it!

Members of the daisy, parsley, and verbena families are also generally good food plants for adult butterflies. Mint family members are often good for bees and hoverflies. Nicotiana, Datura, and pale varieties of Four O'Clock are good for moths, as well as often fragrant.

Got some Cosmos but they are not fully grown yet (they were cheap) so hoping for some sun to bring them on. Perhaps too optimistic!

So many suggestions! Thankyou everyone. I do have some Verbena Bonariensis and in a long gone sunny summer regularly saw Hummingbird Hawk moth feeding on them. Fabulous! I really fancy some Nicotiana.