Nature tables are not a thing of the past, they are very much alive at a gardening club near you. When I was at school, many moons ago, we had a nature table where we brought things that we’d found in nature. It could have been an old bird nest, some autumn leaves, conkers and
Grow nectar rich honeywort for the longer tongued pollinators
Have a look around your garden, especially in places where you don’t cultivate the soil. Maybe you’ve got raised beds, or herbaceous borders, or even paths and short-cut lawn areas? Look out for little piles of sandy soul with a central hole. It looks like a mini-volcano. It’s a sure sign you’ve got mining bees
One of the fun parts of my work is interacting with different community groups but especially groups that are focused on gardens, growing, wildlife and of course pollinators. If it’s bee season I love to take a bee safari around the gardens to inspire and educate visitors about the diverse species of bees and other
I often get asked to do a short presentation to augment an event or just to inspire and educate participants. This time I was at the Redcatch Community Garden, in Knowle in Bristol as part of the 2024 Bee Bold Awards. It was a great day at a very inspiring community project. I did a
Look out for the buff-tailed bumblebee in your garden.
Image: Jean Vernon
Some of the best garden pollinators are solitary bees like this Gwynne’s mining bee (Andrena bicolor)
It’s always lovely to get positive reviews of your books. But I wasn’t expecting this one from Mat Coward in the Morning Star. Not only did Mat offer some lovely feedback about my new book Attracting Garden Pollinators, but he actually chose it for his Gardening Book of the Year! In his round up for
If you find notches cut from your rose leaves you have got leaf-cutter bees in your garden.
At first glance this amazing creature looks just like a hornet. But look closer. It’s actually a fly, a harmless hoverfly that is a precious pollinator