Spring bulbs for pollinators

Late winter and early spring are a difficult time for early pollinators as not much is flowering, especially if the weather is warm and bumblebee queens and other early pollinators have woken up too early. But it is easy to plant some early bulbs to provide food and nectar for hungry garden visitors.

First to flower are Winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis), flowering in January. Strictly speaking, these plants do not grow from bulbs (a short stem with fleshy leaves which functions as a food storage organ during dormancy) but from tubers (enlarged structures used as storage organs for nutrients, often associated with roots). I have only seen pollinators visiting the flowers a few times on very mild winter days because they flower a bit too early. But in a warm spell in January they are certainly useful. Winter aconites grow best in moist humus-rich but well-drained soil under deciduous trees.

Winter aconites flower very early in the year

Flowering in January and February are snowdrops which have delicate-looking flowers but are tough as old boots. They can even be covered completely by snow or get frosted repeatedly and look no worse for wear. It is best to plant snowdrops "in the green" in February meaning as plants which have just finished flowering. The bulbs don`t survive long when they are out of the ground as they dry out too quickly, that is why it is not worth buying bulbs from garden centres in autumn.

Bumblebee queens like visiting snowdrops

Two red-tailed bumblebee queens

Crocuses start flowering in February and continue into March. They are great plants for bumblebee queens, hoverflies and early solitary bees. Planted in large clumps all over the garden provides pollinators with a useful food resource. I have planted small amounts of bulbs in different places on the allotment years ago which multiplied nicely and I have now many large clumps. I prefer the small species crocuses such as Crocus crysanthus and C. tommasinianus over the large dutch crocuses but all provide pollen and nectar. Crocus likes sunny well-drained areas of the garden and also grows well in grass.

A pretty little hoverfly (probably Scaeva pyrastri)

This bumblebee queen is nearly too heavy for the crocus flower

An early solitary bee (Andrena sp.)

A hungry buff-tailed bumblebee queen

A white-tailed bumblebee queen visiting a Crocus crysanthus flower

Andrena bicolor, a solitary bee

The first tulips start flowering in March, with the last ones flowering in May. There are lots and lots of large-flowered cultivars but I prefer the smaller wild tulips such as Tulipa sylvestris, T. turkestanica and T. saxatilis as they look after themselves and come back every year planted in my well-drained soil. I also think they are more attractive to bees and hoverflies. Tulips need sunshine and well-drained soil which should not be too rich as most wild tulips come from mountain areas in eastern Europe and Asia.

A garden bumblebee queen visiting a tulip flower

Another Andrena bicolor inside a tulip flower

Another great bulb for pollinators, flowering in March and April, are grape hyacinths (Muscari). I have seen all sorts of pollinators visiting the flowers, but especially solitary bees and butterflies. The common grape hyacinth Muscari armeniacum can spread quite a lot when happy but there are many other more well-behaved grape hyacinths such Muscari latifolium and some cultivars of Muscari armeniacum. Muscari like similar conditions to wild tulips but can grow well in normal garden soil as well.

This small tortoiseshell butterfly likes the Muscari flowers

You might wonder why I have not mentioned daffodils which fill road verges and gardens with colour in spring but in my opinion they are not as good for pollinators as the other bulbs mentioned. Wild daffodils (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) are probably the best to grow, but the more showy cultivated daffodils don`t offer much pollen and nectar.

Most bulbs can be planted in September and October, but tulips are best planted late October and November as they will be less susceptible to tulip fire then. Snowdrops and Winter aconites are best planted "in the green" just after flowering in late winter.