October - Plants of the Moment

October - Planting with nature in mind

So many of the plants we love wildlife will too. Start by choosing shrubs, trees, herbs, perennials and other plants that produce flowers in each of the four seasons, providing a ready source of pollen and nectar for honeybees, bumblebees, hoverflies, butterflies and other insects. Many flowers go on to form fruits and berries, both valuable sources of food for birds and other creatures.

Ornamental grasses, annuals and perennials often end the season by forming attractive seedheads, which in turn provide food for garden wildlife. Shrubs, climbers and hedging plants also help create protective habitats for birds and wildlife to shelter, nest or hibernate.

Plants with fruits, berries & seedheads include:

• Beauty Berry (Callicarpa ‘Profusion’ AGM)
• Skimmia japonica ‘Nymans’
• Cotoneaster
• Pyracantha
• Gaultheria (Pernettya)
• Ornamental grasses eg Miscanthus, Pennisetum, Stipa.

Late flowering plants for late flying insects:

• Asters
• Japanese Anemones
• Chrysanthemums
• Ivy (Hedera)
• Japanese Aralia (Fatsia japonica AGM)
• Mahonia
• Plant ornamental garden trees that produce fruits and berries including varieties of rowan, cherry and crab apple.