Topic: Flowers to encourage insects

[meter rat]

We are trying to encourage more insects to our plot. We have a small area set aside for pretties, as my wife calls them. We tried to start with some wild flowers but we seamed to get  a lot of weeds? and no flowers, not any that looked like the packet  ???.  Does any one have any suggestions for simple to look after, perennials we can plant. These will need come from the garden centre as we had no look growing from seed. Could we please have the simple names, or rather the common names. It's quite an exposed south facing site so drought tollerant would be best.

[Obelixx]

Insects like easy access to nectar so choose simple flower forms rather than doubles. 

Start in spring with crocuses then daffs followed by a succession of plants such as foxgloves/digitalis, monkshood/aconitums, agastache, yarrow/achillea, scabious, cone flower/echinacea, sedum Autumn Joy.  A good and easy shrub to consider is buddleia or butterfly bush which flowers in summer and attracts butterflies.  For winter, have a look at shrubs such as mahonia charity and viburnum Bodnantense Dawn.

All of these should be easy to find in local garden centres and not expensive.  None needs any special care apart from pruning the buddleia back to about knee height every spring and giving them all a feed.

[goodlife]

Not to forget good  old lavender...any variety. Verbena bonariensis is bee and butterfly magnet..and even more atractive for bees is Helenium=sneezeweed (not a weed..proper garden plant.. ;)) Asters =Michaelmas daisies are good for late season blooms..Poppies, Single flowering roses, Hebes, Cotoneaster, Hazel, Heathers, Flowering Alliums
It don't all have to be ornamental flowers for you to attract insects..courgette, pumpkin and squash flowers, onion & leek flowers, cabbage etc..all those draw insect about when they are allowed to flower. Herbs like Oregano and majoram are good.
In spring if you have some onions that are starting to sprout green leaves..pop them into ground and soon you have flowers.. ;D I always leave odd onion or leek into ground..just for that purpose... ;)
There is some 'fool proof' flowers that you just cannot fail to sow from seeds...Phacelia...sold as 'green manure'..but has lovely lilac flowers, poach egg plant, poppies, borage..all those are easy to sow..just a patch of 'clean' ground..scatter the seeds..with hand or rake, slightly 'mess' the seeds in surface soil..water and rest is history.. ;D..no more lack of flowers..all those are capable self sowing themselves and following years new plants will pop up here and there on you plot..they are shallow rooted so easily ripped up or hoed off where you don't want them.
I've found some commercial 'insect' seed mixes very dissapointing too..so it is not just you.

[meter rat]

We have some Borage and Poched egg plant seeds. The latter I was going to put under the raspberries. Could we start them off in seed trays and transplant them? We never know what are weed seedlings or plants we want, hense wanting something we is a good guy.

[Digeroo]

The bees love the phacelia. 

As it is poisonous I would  be wary of foxglove especially on an allotment.   I just love watching the bees swimming inside the poppy flowers.

I have found the bees really loving some brassicas which have gone to flower and also the raspberry canes.

[grawrc]

Try sowing in rows for easy identification of weeds and then plant out later. Or sow in trays and plant out.

Other really easy ones are marigolds, nasturtiums and flax (linum).

[manicscousers]

I let coriander flower, it brings in hoverflies who hoover up the nasties  ;D

[elvis2003]

golden rod is another one,it flowers late into the season and the bees LOVE it! good luck with sowing from seed,we are all here to give any advice should you need it

[garrett]

Even though you don't want to grow from seed, I'd still sow some Pot Marigold, Nasturtium and Sunflowers as they are so easy and attract lots of insects.

As for perennials, try some Bronze Fennel. It's a short lived perennial but it will self seed and has a long tap root so it's drought resistant too. Nice tall plant which doesn't need staking and will attract masses of beneficial insects.

You'll find the fennel with the herbs in the garden centre.

[gavinjconway]

I'm going to plant marigolds in the spuds as a deterrent for wireworm, with poppies, dahlias and cosmos for some colour and food for the bees...

[antipodes]

I always let most of the plants go to flower, at least one or two: cabbages, radish, rocket, coriander, mint: in fact all the crops will flower if given time!
Nasturtiums flower until very late, as do belle de jour. Insects have plenty of food in spring but I like to keep them fed quite late, to help them out. Tagetes (the French marigold) and pot marigolds also flower until well into the autumn for me.

Next year I am going to grow St John's Wort and chamomile for teas but I expect the flowers will be popular too.