Planting recommendations for small gardens

Small gardens can produce a bee-thrilling variety of year-round pollen and nectar-bearing flowers, bushy plants and small trees. Pack beds with plants and position pots on terraces or decks. Then smother the walls with flowering climbers!

SPRING

FLOWERS Allium, astilbe, aubrieta, candytuft, coltsfoot, cranesbill/hardy geranium, crocus, deadnettle, delosperma, euphorbia, hellebore, hyacinth, leopard’s bane, pasqueflower, poppy, Solomon’s seal, sweet pea, wallflower, wood anemone

CLIMBERS Clematis, wisteria

BUSHES AND COMPACT TREES Berberis, box, ceanothus, compact viburnum, deutzia, hawthorn, heather, hebe, goat (pussy) willow, Judas tree, mahonia, Mexican orange, potentilla, skimmia

EDIBLES Apple, borage, bramble, chervil, chive, crab apple, fruiting currant, quince, rosemary

SUMMER

FLOWERS Allium, alyssum, arnica, aster, astilbe, astrantia, baby blue eyes, bee balm, black-eyed Susan, candytuft, catmint, catnip, coreopsis, cornflower, cosmos, cranesbill, deadnettle, delosperma, euphorbia, fiddle-neck, flax, globe thistle, goldenrod, helenium, heuchera, hollyhock, Jacob’s ladder, ox-eye daisy, peony, phlox, poppy, purple coneflower, purple viper’s bugloss, Russian sage, salvia, scabious, sweet mignonette, sweet pea, sweet William, tobacco plant, veronica, viper’s bugloss, wallflower, wood sage, yarrow, zinnia

CLIMBERS Black-eyed Susan vine, climbing hydrangea, climbing/rambling roses, passion flower, tufted vetch, Virginia creeper

BUSHES AND COMPACT TREES Buddleja, ceanothus, compact viburnum, deutzia, dog rose, escallonia, feverfew, golden rain tree, heather, hebe, mallow, mock orange, potentilla, pyracantha, rock rose, rose, small abelias, St. John’s wort

EDIBLES Autumn sage, basil, beans, borage, bramble, chervil, chive, courgette, dill, fennel, hyssop, lavender, lemon verbena, mint, nasturtium, oregano, pot marigold, rosemary, sage, strawberry, sweet marjoram, thyme

AUTUMN

FLOWERS Aster/Michaelmas daisy, autumn ox-eye daisy, autumn stonecrop, baby blue eyes, black-eyed Susan, bugbane, catmint, catnip, cosmos, cranesbill/hardy geranium, cyclamen, deadnettle, delosperma, fiddleneck, goldenrod, helenium, Japanese anemone, liatris, poppy, purple coneflower, purple viper’s bugloss, Russian sage, scabious, sweet mignonette, tobacco plant, veronica/speedwell, yarrow, zinnia

CLIMBERS Autumn clematis, black-eyed Susan vine, common ivy, passion flower

BUSHES AND COMPACT TREES Bluebeard, buddleja, ceanothus, escallonia, feverfew, heather, hebe, mallow, Mexican orange, small abelias, St. John’s wort

EDIBLES Autumn sage, borage, fennel, hyssop, nasturtium, oregano, pot marigold, rosemary, sweet marjoram

WINTER INTO SPRING

FLOWERS Cyclamen, hellebore, rock cress, Siberian squill, snowdrop, sweet violet, wallflower, winter aconite, winter crocus, winter hazel CLIMBERS Clematis, vine lilac, winter jasmine

BUSHES AND COMPACT TREES Compact viburnum, forsythia, hazel, heather, mahonia, stachyurus, sweet box, winter honeysuckle, winter daphne, winter- flowering cherry, witch hazel An extract from Planting for Honeybees by Sarah Wyndham Lewis (Quadrille, £12)