Emily Hartley
Why the first bees of the year need your help
By the time February eases into March, the first buff-tailed bumblebee queens are already out of hibernation, hunting for food. These are large, low-flying bees, often seen quartering the ground in search of a nest site. A queen has only a few weeks to find somewhere to raise her first brood, and if she cannot find nectar and pollen quickly, the colony never gets going. Early mining bees and the handsome hairy-footed flower bee follow close behind.
The problem is that most British gardens are a long way from generous in late winter. Bare soil, clipped shrubs and a few daffodils do not offer much. Single, simple flowers with an open centre are what these insects need, and a handful of reliable plants will carry your garden from January right through to the first fruit blossom.
Mass your planting rather than dotting singles about. A bee finds a clump of twenty crocuses far more efficiently than one plant in each corner, and a sheltered, sun-warmed patch is worth more than a large but windswept bed.
Hellebores: the backbone of late winter
Hellebores are the single most valuable plant for the earliest bees. The Christmas rose, Helleborus niger, can be flowering in December, while the oriental hybrids and their relations take over from February to April. Their nodding, bowl-shaped flowers hold nectar in quantity, and even on a cold day a queen can work through a clump of them.
Grow them in dappled shade under deciduous shrubs or a small tree, in soil that drains freely but never dries out entirely. They resent being moved once established, so choose the spot carefully and add plenty of leaf mould or garden compost before planting. In January, cut away the old, spotted foliage so the flowers are visible and air moves freely around the crown. Fashions favour doubles, but single-flowered varieties are far easier for bees to get into.
Wear gloves when you handle them, and keep clippings away from children and pets, as all parts of the plant are toxic if eaten. Handled sensibly, they are trouble-free and will self-seed gently around the parent clump.
Crocuses: pollen by the thousand
Crocuses are the great pollen providers of early spring. Each flower delivers a heavy dusting of it, and a drift of them will keep a bee busy for a long time. They are corms rather than bulbs, so plant them pointed end up in September and October, about 8cm deep and 8cm apart.
For a long season, try three kinds:
- Crocus tommasinianus — the earliest and most reliable, excellent for naturalising in grass, and it self-seeds happily.
- Crocus chrysanthus cultivars — compact, jewel-coloured, wonderful in a pot by the door where you will actually see the bees at work.
- Large Dutch crocuses — bolder and later, useful for bridging the gap before the fruit blossom opens.
Crocuses need sun to open properly, so plant them where the morning light arrives early and the wind does not batter them. If you naturalise them in a lawn, leave the mower in the shed until the leaves have yellowed — roughly six weeks after flowering — or you will starve next year's display.
Pulmonaria: shade-loving nectar for long tongues
Pulmonarias, or lungworts, flower from late February into April and are one of the few early plants that thrive in dry shade. The tubular flowers are built for long-tongued bumblebees, though short-tongued species will sometimes bite a hole at the base to steal the nectar.
Pulmonaria officinalis and the spotted-leaved forms make good ground cover in a shady border, while Pulmonaria rubra brings a welcome shot of brick red. They prefer a damp, humus-rich soil and will sulk in hot sun. Divide clumps every few years in autumn to keep them vigorous, and choose mildew-resistant varieties if your soil dries out in summer.
Pair them with hellebores and snowdrops for a woodland corner that works from Christmas onwards.
Putting together a simple early-spring plan
You do not need a large garden to make a real difference. Try layering your planting:
- Hellebores at the back of a shady bed, under-planted with snowdrops and winter aconite.
- A sunlit patch of crocus in short grass or along a path edge, planted in a generous drift.
- Pulmonaria in the shadier, moister corner, close to where you walk.
- A large pot by the front door with crocuses and a small hellebore, for a display you can watch from the window on a wet afternoon.
Add a few extras if you have room: willow catkins for pollen, mahonia for scent and nectar, and a patch of dandelions left to flower. Avoid pesticides entirely, leave a little untidiness in the corners, and put out a shallow dish of water with a few pebbles in it as a landing pad.
Food, family and the first mild weekend
There is a happy rhythm to early spring: a morning in the garden planting out, then something warm from the kitchen — purple sprouting broccoli with garlic and chilli, or the first forced rhubarb stewed with a little ginger. Many country gardens open for snowdrop and hellebore walks in February, and a gentle family wander with a flask is one of the loveliest cheap days out of the year.
Plant a few corms and a hellebore this weekend, and by this time next year you will have bees working the flowers before breakfast and children spotting the first one out. That is spring properly begun.
