The Little Book Of Plants For Pollinators: A Gardener's Guide by Maureen Little

 

The Little Book of Plants for Pollinators: A Gardener's Guide by Maureen Little.

Published 16th May 2023 by The Bee Garden.

From the cover of the book:

Long-time gardener and horticultural expert Maureen Little knows how important pollinators are and has 
decided it’s time to share her knowledge of how to draw 
them in...

The Little Book of Plants for Pollinators includes a 
compilation of one hundred plants including annuals and biennials, perennials, shrubs and sub-shrubs, and trees.

To be included in this guide, the plant needs to fit three 
criteria: it will be attractive to pollinators, garden-worthy and suitable for an average UK garden.

As we become increasingly environmentally conscious and committed to protecting our bee population, The Little Book of Plants for Pollinators does something different to many of the books on the market: it focuses on the flowers which attract pollinators.

Based on in-depth research, plus scientific and empirical recommendations, this book informs us of the characteristics of flowers and what makes them attractive to pollinators. Each plant entry includes details of the flowering season, the optimal growing conditions, soil requirements and propagation techniques.

Three out of four crops across the globe producing fruits or seeds for human use depend on pollinators. As a result, there’s rising demand for knowledge about providing a pollinator-friendly environment in the garden. With this guide, we can give something back to pollinators.

With beautiful watercolour illustrations by Emma Sutton and published to coincide with World Bee Day, The Little Book of Plants for Pollinators is not only a gardener’s essential go-to guide, but a fantastic addition to any gardener’s bag, coffee table or bookshelf.

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The Little Book of Plants for Pollinators is a handy guide to picking the best plants to attract pollinators to your garden, by horticultural expert Maureen Little. It is being published to mark World Bee Day to encourage us all to find ways in which we can counteract the decline of pollinator populations, especially as a result of climate change.

Included in this volume are very interesting facts about the range of pollinators that visit our gardens, but it is really about the plants themselves, rather than a guide on entomology. Little makes a point of ensuring that the flowers, shrubs, and small trees found within these pages are ones which are suitable for smaller suburban gardens, and that they can be easily sourced. There is enough detail about the plants themselves to give you the confidence you need to make choices that will thrive in the space you have, and in different conditions - there are even plants you can grow in containers and window boxes. The plants all have flowers attractive to pollinators in one way or another, and the choice is wide enough to tempt a diverse selection of pollinators to your garden.

As an experienced gardener, there are many plants in these pages that I recognise as being ones that are pretty to look at, and a great draw for birds and insects alike. However, you do not need to be an expert to use this book, as it provides all the information you need to get started with making your garden more attractive to the insects that are vital for the survival of our ecosystem, whether or not you are green-fingered.

This is the perfect, compact, go-to-guide to helping out pollinators at a time when they are under threat, and it shows how giving a little thought to the plants you buy, you can make all the difference to, not just, your outside spaces, but the environment too.

This book is available to buy now in paperback. 

Thank you to Grace Plikington PR for sending me a PDF copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Maureen Little is an author, gardener and bee-keeper who has worked in horticulture for over 40 years. She has given lectures at RHS Wisley, the Garden Museum in London, the Herb Society and gardening groups and societies nationwide. Maureen has a monthly gardening feature on local community radio 
Ribble FM. Maureen is a full member of the Garden Media Guild, and the author of The Bee Garden and The Little Book of Popular Perennials. The Little Book of Plants for Pollinators is her latest book.