Feb 57 min read

Shall I stop off at your restaurant?

What's on your garden menu for 2024?

Hoverfly (Merodon equestris) dining at Geranium psilostemon 'Red Admiral' 24th June 2023 in our no dig, sloping coastal organic wildlife garden in Warsash, Southampton, Hampshire, UK.

January 2024 has passed, and we got through the veganuary, no booze and so on...

We are lucky, we can make that choice, for good or bad!

You may know by now, from coming to a talk or watching you tube, or on facebook, that it's fair to say I can go on a bit about our garden creatures, especially insects. We know things are not great in the natural world but we can control our garden menu in our own green restaurant!

Our guts and their guts depend on what we put in it, and the microbiome is key to health.

At my talks, I ask people to raise a hand and pat themselves on the back - because as gardeners - it's our gardens that keep the restaurants open. How great are we!

Not forgetting our wonderful winding hedgerows which are also pathways for nature.

As a collective bunch of gardeners in the UK we spend millions on our green patches and we keep habitat highways open, both on land and in the air. In the first quarter of 2023, we spent around 1.84 billion British pounds. (Source Statista)

We have serious purchasing power! (Top Tip - Only buy plants grown organically!)

I suppose the question for us all is, what's in your restaurant and how do we know what to buy for natures table?

This photo was taken on the 3rd April 2014 of blue plants in flower on that date.

Bumblebee gathering nectar from Lithodora on the 8th April 2014 in our garden (Are you learning to identify Bumbles?)

Colours that insects see is quite different from what we see, but it's not just about colour...

I know from my talks that masses more of us of all ages are making nature the priority, how fantastic is that!

Finally we are no longer seduced by short lived annuals and awful things like Petunias that provide no benefits to nature (or the eye) whatsoever!

The caterpillar of the mint moth on applemint 22nd July 2022 in our garden. Moths are important pollinators and herbs are perfect plants to invest in.

Evolution has brought about phenology It's the sequencing of all things, for example an abundance of caterpillars growing fat and juicy at the same time as the young birds need food, is nature at its finest.

(For now we are not going to go into the bigger picture; global warming, soil health and loss, industrial agriculture, ongoing habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, species loss and subsequent food and medicine insecurity, and so on)

Plant pots on doorsteps, hanging baskets, pots on patios, balconies, patches of grass, whether rentals, or homeowners let's get back to our own garden restaurants, where we CAN and DO make an enormous difference!

How can we work out what I would like to call a 'Plant Pollinator Score' (PPS)

For now let's just deal with pollinating insects which includes moths, wasps, beetles, ants, flies and creatures which aren't always as obvious as a bees.

A parasitic wasp enjoying lunch on the beak of a Geranium seed in our garden 25th August 2021.

Did you know this wasp was a pollinator?

According to a brilliant study at Exeter University pollen is also an important source of food for several spider species, particularly for spiderlings. The pollen is caught on their webs and spiders were observed to eat the pollen even if there were insects present.

Spiders are normally considered to be carnivores. How fantastic!

Garden spider at the centre of its web in our garden. 19th Sept 2020

We know that plants provide the nectar and pollen in our garden, so if I was going to work out a Plant Pollinator Score the list below would be my criteria, marking each out of 10, 0 being of no use and 10 being a top pollinator plant score;

What is the measured nectar content within the plant (high or low nectar volume)?
What is the secretion rate (Speed of refill of nectar) within the plant?
What is the ease of access to the nectaries in the plant (ie open or double flowered)?
What is the sugar content?
Is the flower a good seeable colour?
What is the form of the flower (ie for ability to 'hang on', size, shape, width, is it for long or short tongued insect?
How many hours or days is the plant in flower?
Forager or robber ability and any microbial changes?
Is the flower genus species susceptible to virus?
Is it susceptible to parasites?
What is the pollen content?

and so it goes on...

Essentially its us trying to fathom what nature has been doing for millions of years! Crazy I know...but bear with...

Environmental factors affect nectar production, typically after rain, then a drying off period followed by sun is good for pollinators and when you are more likely to see a lot of them about.

I am certain in our garden on a sunny afternoon after rain, it's not a coincidence that birds flock at about 3.30pm at the same time as the flying pollinators. Plants are topped up with sugar. Dinner is served!

A fat thighed beetle gathering nectar from Geranium x oxonianum versicolour in our garden 11th June 2020

I rarely buy plants these days but I used to buy a lot, often for the wrong reasons. In the past I would buy for their 'looks' or to 'show off' (when we used to open for the National Garden Scheme) or for privacy (we have a slope) or as an an addition to a collection (Geraniums and Snowdrops). I've grown up since then, and the focus is purely wildlife.

Here is a bumblebee on route to Papaver orientale 'Patty's Plum' which is a stunning perennial but it only flowers for two short weeks and takes up a lot of room.

It has a lot of stamens which carry a lot of pollen - note the purple pollen on the bees hind legs. How would it score PPS 4 ?

It does benefit the nursery spider

which seems to take refuge amongst it's leaves.

Here is a Corizus hyoscyami, a beautiful cinnamon bug on Iris ensata - which I think is an utterly gorgeous plant but entirely rubbish for our UK pollinators.

What observations do you have about this plant?

It has superb lines showing the way in for pollinators but in my observations there is very tricky access.

It has a great landing pad for emergent sunbathers and offers tasty petals which get the occasional nibble but otherwise, it's nil from me.

How would it score? PPS 0

So in terms of this plant on the menu, I did some research.

I found an interesting (non UK) academic article about Iris ensata entitled 'Pollinator limitation causes sexual reproductive failure' Oh dear! It seems that the only bumble that gets access to this Iris species is a beautiful oriental bee called Bombus trifasciatus.

Here I'm lifting the style arm and showing the stamen, the nectaries are a long way down!

I wonder has that bee got more muscle power than our bumble and can heave under the style arm?

Coevolution is the interaction between species which ultimately determines natural selection.

Here's 3 pics from our restaurant menu showing my observations with this common carder (thinking its a gladiator), having been enticed onto the Iris ensata

'Mmmm this is a tasty meal - I'm going in...' (There are sugars on the petal)

'Yep still tasty, I think there's more sugar down here...I'm going down'

'Yep - no I'm not...time to leave!'

We should never underestimate what we observe in our own restaurant because it's likely to be more important than we think. Perhaps my score was right for the UK regarding Iris ensata? As if anymore evidence were needed, I had two large clumps of this but they no longer exist.

Nectary Access and Flower Form

This bumble has learnt to get the nectar the easy way using its long tongue and has chosen not to hang off the underside of this Aquilegia.

I have rarely observed bumbles on the underside of granny's bonnet, it might be simply too heavy to suspend from this single nodding flower.

Meaning the flower form also quite tricky.

The bee has adapted its behaviour to 'rob the nectar' by piercing a hole in the modified petal (spur) instead.

How would this plant score? PPS 5

Observing and documenting nature is key. If I asked you which plants attract butterflies in your patch you would probably be able to tell me. Who doesn't love a flutterby but there are a lot more insects to watch and you can help by just sitting in your patch and taking note.

In the online world of horticulture, professional and otherwise, there are all manner of different home made lists of what's best for pollinators and what's not.

There also seems to be a disconnect between plant and animal recording in databases. The two kingdoms do not stand alone in nature and never have, it's quite the opposite. The accurate recording of a named wasp on an unnamed plant makes no sense to me but entomologists often don't have the same knowledge as botanists and vice versa. Perhaps that needs to change?

Our UK flagship charity the Royal Horticultural Society are doing their best to keep on top of things. However the answer is not just an RHS plants for pollinators bumblebee label, if anything this is misleading - for example beetles do not buzz! However, we know its better than nothing. Perhaps there needs to be some specialist entomologists in the environmental team?

Imagine if every plant had a score backed up with a QR link detailing PPS results, simple 1 - 10. (Straight species plants first, no over bred divas!)

Just look at the work of Kew Gardens regarding the remarkable The Tree of Life Project

If we can sequence the genome then we can do this.

Calluna vulgaris (heather) it seems is quite remarkable for its specific medicinal properties for bumblebees. There's one to purchase for your menu this year!

My labelling idea of Plant Pollinator Score is 'of course' a complete pipe dream, and we all know that currently it's quite ad hoc how plants are added to lists.

We also know that the incredible zoologist Jennifer Owen proved beyond doubt with her thirty year study in her garden in Leicester, that, amongst other discoveries, plants do not need to be UK natives to provide for nature.

Given the importance of our garden restaurant menus, I hope to have inspired you to make great purchasing choices with nature uppermost in your mind!