Biodiversity and our Gardens in Autumn

According to study undertaken by the RHS in 2015, entitled ‘Plants for bugs’, “the more flowers a garden can offer throughout the year, the greater the number of bees, hoverflies and other pollinating insects it will attract and support.” I have been using this advice as a basis to maximise the flowering season in our gardens, using a mix of native and non-native to support this. Many later flowering plants originate from the southern hemisphere and these non-natives can be very beneficial to some of our native insects. The elephant hawk moth, for example prefers to feed on Fuchsias, native to South America over any other plant found in UK gardens. As well as Fuchsias at Lincoln, the gardens team has proudly raised a number of late flowering annuals from seed, such as heliotropes, zinnias and datura which will keep producing blooms until the first frost. We also rely on perennials, like Persicaria, Rudbeckia and Verbena which I believe no garden should be without!

Over autumn we will be adding nearly 6000 spring bulbs, including daffodils, crocuses and winter iris to our collection across the main site and Lincoln’s various accommodation annexes. This will provide pollinators which food earlier in the year and also give these spaces a boost of colour during the cold, short days of early spring, which I’m sure everyone will appreciate, not just the insects!

So in summary, my advice is to fill your gardens with as many flowers as early and late into the year as possible for the benefit of insects, wildlife which feeds on these insects and our own mental health.