Attracting Bees with Early Nectar Rich Flowers

Why early nectar matters by the coast

Coastal Britain enjoys some of the mildest winters in the country, and that has a lovely consequence: pollinators wake early. Queen buff-tailed bumblebees may be out foraging in February, honeybees take cleansing flights on any still day above about 10°C, and solitary bees such as the hairy-footed flower bee appear while inland gardens are still frozen solid. The trouble is that coastal gardens are often windswept, thin-soiled and salt-blasted, with far fewer wildflowers in bloom than a sheltered inland hedgerow.

That leaves a hungry gap between the first warm days and the main flush of spring blossom. Fill it with a few reliable early nectar plants and you will carry whole colonies through the leanest weeks of the year.

Lungwort: the workhorse of early spring

If you plant only one thing this autumn, make it lungwort. Pulmonaria flowers from late February into April, holds its nectar openly so even short-tongued bees can reach it, and shrugs off salt-laden wind better than most herbaceous perennials. The nodding clusters of blue, pink and white are a familiar sight in Cornish and Welsh coastal gardens for good reason.

Plant in humus-rich soil in light or dappled shade, spacing clumps about 30cm apart and setting the crowns just at the surface. 'Blue Ensign' is the deepest blue, 'Sissinghurst White' lights up a dark corner, and 'Opal' is a soft, speckled pale blue that bees adore. Water well through the first summer, then mulch generously with leaf mould each spring. Divide congested clumps every three years after flowering, and cut the tired old leaves back in midsummer to trigger a flush of fresh silver-spotted foliage.

Hellebores: nodding flowers for sheltered corners

Hellebores are the connoisseur's early bee plant. The nectar sits in nectaries deep inside those nodding blooms, so a bee has to push its way in — and it is well worth the effort on a cold morning. Helleborus niger (the Christmas rose) can open in December; Helleborus x hybridus follows from January to March; and Helleborus foetidus, the stinking hellebore, is a quiet favourite with green, bell-like flowers that last for months.

Give them a spot with winter sun and shelter from the worst of the gales — against a south-facing wall, at the foot of a fence, or beneath a deciduous shrub. What they cannot abide is waterlogging. On heavy coastal clay, plant on a slight mound or into a raised bed bulked out with grit and garden compost. Cut away the old tattered foliage in January so the flowers are visible and air can circulate, and keep an eye out for slugs on mild, damp nights.

Willow: the finest early tree for pollinators

Nothing beats willow for sheer volume of early food. Goat willow (Salix caprea), grey willow (Salix cinerea) and eared willow (Salix aurita) all produce fat silvery catkins from February, packed with pollen and nectar at exactly the moment queen bumblebees are founding new nests. Willow also tolerates salt spray, wind and wet ground — all the things a coastal plot throws at it — and makes an excellent natural windbreak.

You do not need a big garden. Coppice a willow hard every second or third winter and it will stay compact at two or three metres, producing vigorous young growth and even more catkins. Willow roots travel, so keep it clear of drains and foundations. The easiest way to start is a hardwood cutting: push a pencil-thick stem about 30cm long into moist ground in autumn and it will root without any fuss.

Making it work in salt wind and thin soil

Shelter comes first. A woven hazel or willow hurdle, or an evergreen hedge of griselínia, escallonia or tamarisk, will cut wind speed and reduce the salt burn that scorches tender new growth. Once that is in place, feed the soil: coastal ground is often sandy, free-draining and hungry, so dig in plenty of garden compost or well-rotted seaweed, and mulch every spring.

• Water new plantings steadily through their first two summers — sandy soil dries fast.
• Avoid the frost pocket at the bottom of a slope; cold air pools there and blackens early buds.
• Plant in autumn so roots establish before the spring winds arrive.
• Leave a shallow dish of water with a few stones in it for thirsty bees.

Succession planting and gentle maintenance

Lungwort, hellebore and willow are the backbone, but you can stretch the season either side of them. Snowdrops and winter aconites open in January, winter-flowering heather (Erica carnea) and rosemary carry February, mahonia and winter honeysuckle bridge into March, then willow and pulmonaria take over until the apple blossom arrives.

Above all, resist the urge to be tidy. Hold off cutting stems down until late April, leave a small log pile in a quiet corner for overwintering insects, and never reach for insecticide on a plant that is in flower. A coastal garden given this much early nectar will hum from February onwards — and you will have done the hardest-working creatures in the garden a genuine kindness.