We all know that bees are vital pollinators, and we might be forgiven for thinking that it is the honey bees who do this work, but it is the bumblebee with its longer proboscis, that can access a much wider range of flowers, who is the more important pollinator and many essential commercial crops are dependent on bumblebee pollination, for example tomatoes and peas.

We are hoping that we can have Jessica come to give us a talk in 2025, but what can we plant this autumn in our own gardens to encourage bumblebees and protect their populations?

Alys Holdway (professional gardener, MHS member and Jessica’s mum) has sent some ideas, and photographs of their garden in Marden, of flowers which are bumblebee friendly: Scabious, Geum, Allium, Iris hollandica, Lithodora, Salvia - all types, Veronicastrum virginicum, Papaver, Monarda, Eryngium, Echinops, Nepeta, Geranium Rozanne, Sedum, Echinacea, Cirsium, Helianthus annuus.