Balcony gardening-planning for pollinators

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Balcony gardening-planning for pollinators

February 2, 2012 by outofmyshed

I was recently talking to Aya (above with Eini) about the highs and lows of balcony gardening . On her 3rd floor garden, Aya grew herbs, courgettes, salad leaves and a rose last year, and this year wants to try out more fruit and veg. What she noticed last summer is that she didn’t have enough bees to pollinate her courgettes and ended up, rather impressively, doing this by hand.

So this got me thinking about how important insects are for pollinating, wherever your veg patch is. And to help Aya’s veg for this year, we started compiling a list of annuals and perennials that will attract bees onto her sizeable south and west-facing wrap around balcony.

Image from http://whisperingearth.wordpress.com/

Perennial herbs such as Marjoram (above) and Lavender (and many other herbs too) will certainly do the trick, coming back year after year, and providing great flavours for the kitchen and beautiful flowers and textures for the balcony. These plants can easily be grown from cuttings taken in spring and also throughout the summer.

And annuals (growing, flowering and dying all in the same year) will also play their part. Sowing seeds is a cheap and easy way to have these vibrant bee magnets on your plot and there are plenty of candidates that will attract bees in all shapes and sizes. The delicate Nigella damascena (above) will grow to approx 12-18 inches (30-45cm)

and form alien like seed pods which will, very usefully, supply seeds for the following year too.

The greenish white domes of Amni visnaga, planted alongside the airy purple heads of Verbena bonariensis will lend a subtle bucolic air to the balcony,

or for a vibrant splash of colour, sunflowers sown from March to May can really provide a substantial and joyous presence to any growing space as well as attracting plenty of bees.

I found the Chiltern Seed catalogue really useful when contemplating the pollinator issue as it lists nearly 400 bee attracting plants (on the drop down menu under Wild Flower Garden). They also sent me a very useful list of bee and butterfly attracting perennials that will flower in the first year from seed. Jolly useful list if you’re trying to keep costs down and spare plants can be shared and with friends and family too. I haven’t grown any of these perennials before: Leonotis ‘Staircase’, Agastache aurantiaca ‘Fragrant Carpet’, and

Image from http://www.amothersjournal.com/

Monarda didyma ‘Panama red shades’ (aka bee balm or Bergamot, above).

I’m intrigued to see how successful these plants will be at attracting bees to the balcony and I hope Aya can look forward to the merry sound of buzzing all summer long and plenty of courgettes and other fruit and veg to eat too.

Posted in 'How to', Allotment, Annuals, Climbers, Fruit, Perennials, potager, Roses, Vegetables | Tagged Agastache aurantiaca 'Fragrant Carpet', Amni visnaga, bees as pollinators, container gardening, Growing veg in pots, growing veg on balconies, Lavender, Leonotis 'Staircase', Marjoram, Monarda didyma 'Panama red shades, Nigella damscena, pollinators for balcony gardening, Pollinators for container gardening, Pollinators for vegetables, sunflowers, Verbena bonariensis | 15 Comments

15 Responses

on February 2, 2012 at 12:20 pm | Reply Marian StClair

Good ideas. Borage and ‘African Blue’ basil work best in my South Carolina (USA) garden.
- on February 2, 2012 at 12:23 pm | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Thanks for great ideas Marian!
on February 2, 2012 at 2:34 pm | Reply wellywoman

The bees really do love borage although I found it was a bit of a brute, a much bigger plant than expected and brought me out in a bad rash!!! Unfortunately for the bees no borage this year but they don’t go short of nectar rich plants on my allotment so I don’t feel too bad. I think Verbena bonariensis is one of the best and so are blue cornflowers. Mine were covered in bees all summer. Californian poppies and Cosmos as well are good they just keep on flowering. Loving the photo of Ammi visnaga, I’m growing it for the first time this year.
- on February 2, 2012 at 7:45 pm | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Hi WW, yes, I grew Borage for the first time this year too and it is a whopper of a plant. Strangely, still some blooms at the beginning of this week! Planted Californian poppies, and cornflowers last autumn in our communal front garden, and think they’ll look great in pots on Aya’s balcony too. Musn’t forget to order Cosmos for this year. Thanks for reminder. V.best Naomi
on February 2, 2012 at 2:56 pm | Reply Lula

Great ideas, yes. Last year in my terrace the 4 huge lavanders and one raspberry were the favourites, for different reasons I could not had more diversity, but I was glad I could help a lot of bees. Best from Brussels (BE)
on February 2, 2012 at 3:27 pm | Reply Sue

I too love the Amni visnaga especially with the Verbena bonariensis and maybe
nasturtiums and marigolds would be great too for the front of planters. Both sets of petals can be added to salads having checked for blackfly on the nasturtiums !!
on February 2, 2012 at 7:40 pm | Reply outofmyshed

Hi Lula from Brussels, yes, will be taking plenty of Lavender cuttings this year and I agree that raspberries will do really well on a balcony too. Thanks for dropping by. V.best Naomi

Sue, Edible flowers that can attract pollinators must be a double bonus. Despite the sub zero temperatures, all these discussions on what to plant this year are getting me very excited and desperate for spring to arrive so that I can start to carry out this year’s planting plans. V.best Naomi.
on February 5, 2012 at 11:25 pm | Reply sarah clark

Nice dog xx
- on February 6, 2012 at 5:21 pm | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Gorgeous dog! Eini is a across between an English working cocker spaniel and miniature poodle. Cockerpoo. I want one of those! N xx
on February 9, 2012 at 6:56 pm | Reply Adele

I love reading your posts! I’ve nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award, details are on my blog.
- on February 9, 2012 at 7:13 pm | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Many thanks Adele! Can see from your latest post that you’re well tucked in for the winter in Manitoba. Your wood burning stove sounds very cosy. Have started to sow a few seeds indoors, but it snowed last weekend and will snow again tomorrow, so no outdoors gardening for a week now, so plenty of reading and seed ordering going on here too. Thanks again. V.best Naomi
on February 10, 2012 at 6:27 pm | Reply amoogk

I always found Salvia sylvestris fantastic for attracting bees, especially bumble bees. It has the added bonus of being incredibly tough and hardy. Trimming off spent flower spikes results in multiple flushes of flowers until the cold months set in, then a hard chop in the winter otherwise it will become a bit of a monster!
- on February 10, 2012 at 6:45 pm | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Hi Amoogk, Looks like a great plant and one I haven’t grown before. Definitely on the pollinator list for this year.
  Loved the shed making video on your blog. Very snazzy and love the idea of all your broken tools forming a wonderful sculpture. Thanks for dropping by.
  Naomi
on February 1, 2016 at 7:59 am | Reply Ace Gardener

Hi,

Thanks for sharing this beautiful information with us…..you have done great work.
- on February 1, 2016 at 10:04 am | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Thanks Ace Gardener. Would also add that any of the Scabious family-Succisa pratensis (Devil’s bit scabious) are always covered in bees, as are Borage and Calaminta nepeta nepeta (gorgeous airy front of border plant covered in pale blue flowers). Happy growing.