I enjoy running horticultural trials; I spend much of my time searching for the most gorgeous plants that will produce a profusion of flowers and attract bees and pollinating insects. I love to share the most successful plants from my trials with you to help you find top quality plants to enhance your garden. The plants I recommend in this column need to be grown in a bright and sunny location, in well-drained soil or containers filled with peat-free compost.

The month of May gives us the last chance to sow seeds of a divine array of meadowy plants. If you’re sowing seeds, act swiftly as plants need time to develop and mature to be able to bloom this summer. If you’ve not sown seeds before do give it a try – it’s exhilarating to watch teeny-tiny seeds germinate! I find it relaxing and uplifting to observe as seedlings mature into flowering plants.

Last May, I filled a series of window boxes with old peat-free compost and then scattered pre-mixed packs of flower seeds over the compost, using a different seed pack for each trough. I enjoyed fantastic results with Chiltern Seeds ‘Balcony Mixture’, Suttons Seeds Wildflower Mix Seeds for Patio Pots, and Suttons Seeds Wildflower Mix Seeds for Window Boxes. Different seeds have different requirements. The seeds from these seed packs require light to germinate, so don’t cover the seeds with compost or they won’t grow. I water the compost in the container, then sprinkle the seeds evenly over the compost; next, I press the palms of my hands very gently on top of the seeds just to ensure the seed makes a lasting connection with the compost.
My window boxes were lifted onto a flat roof and watered twice a week in dry weather. Due to these containers’ precarious location on the roof, the plants weren’t deadheaded, yet these planters were full of flowers from the end of June through until the frosts arrived, attracting a wide range of bees, butterflies, moths, and pollinating insects.










If you’re looking to buy plants, consider planting Calamintha nepeta; it’s an absolute darling of a plant that produces masses of dainty, tubular flowers, creating a soft, misty floral haze that’s perfect for a fairy garden. This hardy perennial is a real delight and a magnet for bees!

I grow Calamintha nepeta in planters of peat-free compost and planted directly in the border to soften the edges of my garden walls. This modest little hardy perennial is an underrated superstar that’s incredibly drought tolerant and naturally floriferous. Calamintha nepeta flourishes in sandy, silty, and free-draining soils; this hard-working plant thrives in containers and just gets on with it! There’s no need to cut back or deadhead Calamintha nepeta plants; my plants flower continually from the end of June through until the middle of November!

To discover more fantastic container plants for bees and butterflies, please click here.
For even more ideas for container plants for bees and butterflies, please click here.
To see more articles I’ve written about my Trials of Flowering Plants, please click here.
For more gardening advice for May, please click here.
To see more articles about my Container Trials, please click here.
For articles about edible gardening, please click here.
To see my plant pages and find pictures and tips on how to grow a wide range of plants including, houseplants, orchids, ferns, scented plants, trees, shrubs, vegetables, fruit, and flowers, please click here.