This beautiful plant is also known as Silverbush. It is a compact evergreen plant which has white funnel-shaped flowers and oblong, silvery leaves. It flowers profusely from early summer until the autumn. 
Convolvulus cneorum
Tag: bee food
Cerinthe Major Purpurascens
Cerinthe major is one of my favourite bee-friendly flowers in the garden at the moment.
Fatsia japonica
If you are looking for a dramatic plant for your garden, you can’t go wrong with Fatsia japonica. This tropical-looking, evergreen shrub with its large, glossy, leathery leaves is surprisingly easy to grow.
Arbutus unedo (Strawberry Tree)
Arbutus unedo, one of my favourite trees is flowering in my garden at the moment. Also known as the Strawberry tree, it has pink tinged white, bell-shaped flowers which hang in clusters from the branches and which are magnets for bees and butterflies.
The strawberry tree is full bloom is a fantastic sight
Flowers and fruit appear at the same time
These flowers will become next years fruit, which unusually appear at the same time as the flowers. The fruit is said to be edible, but doesn’t taste like a strawberry, and can be used to make jam or liqueur. The birds eat them before I get chance to!
Arbus unedo is an evergreen shrub with a bushy habit. However, you can prune the bottom branches off so that it reveals the brown-red bark which peels rather attractively. It is a member of the Ericaceae family so the leaves go yellow if it is not on acid soil – I give mine an Ericaceous feed.
Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’
The beautiful white Echinacea is a hardy perennial which thrives in clay soil (always a must in our garden). The bees and butterflies find the flowers attractive and the birds love the seedheads.
Cynara scolymus (Globe Artichoke)
I grew this Globe Artichoke from seed many years ago and it attracts lots of attention from passers-by, as well as bees and other insects.
Callistemon citrinus ‘Splendens’ (Bottlebrush)
This lemon scented plant is loved by bees and butterflies.
Rudbeckia Goldsturm (Black-eyed Susan)
Rudbeckia Goldsturm is a hardy perennial which has been flowering for weeks and is such a cheerful sight in the garden at the moment and which the butterflies find very attractive!
Sedum
Sedum flowers are the bees must-have food at the moment! The flowers are not even fully out and the bees are crawling all over them. Sedums are a wonderful plant to have in the garden, as they have so much to offer for three quarters of the year. The young lush shoots in the spring, the beautiful flowers, followed by the seed heads which look superb covered in frost.
Scabious
Scabiosa flowers are rich in nectar and attract a variety of insects, including moths and butterflies. It is easy to see why it is also known as the pincushion flower.
