 The buzz word at this year's Chelsea Flower Show is bees, with many exhibitors featuring planting which is attractive to these important insects. Studies show that bumblebees are declining in the UK due to habitat alterations, climate change and industrial farming. Three species of the insect have become extinct in Britain, while another nine are endangered. This year's show hopes to inspire gardeners to ensure that their garden is a real honey pot for all kinds of bees. The honey bee theme can be found in several show gardens, including the Fortnum & Mason Garden which incorporates four Fortnum beehives (minus the bees for insurance purposes) as ornamental features and functional items. The garden has rich, sumptuous planting, which is predominately red, purple, pink and pale yellow. The Laurent-Perrier Garden also includes planting that is attractive to bees. The garden's designer, Jinny Blom, says: "Umbellifers are an important nectar source for many insects and astrantia is very much favoured by bees. The astrantias and other plants in the Laurent-Perrier Garden will create the right flower mix which will subtly attract bees." In the Great Pavilion, the British Beekeepers' Association Urban Beekeeping exhibition will demonstrate to visitors how they can safely keep their own honey bees in an urban environment. The exhibit shows how bees can thrive in an urban environment as they have a massive range of trees and garden plants on their doorstep. Bees can find nectar everywhere in the city, from street trees to railway embankments. The Children's Society Chic Garden takes inspiration from the song Lust for Life by Iggy Pop and features plants including eryngiums (to encourage birds) and salvias (to encourage bees). Bees like warm, sunny weather. However, warm winters, especially in the south, can cause young bumblebee queens to fail to go into normal hibernation in autumn or to wake up prematurely and try to start establishing their colonies in winter. These nests often cannot survive. Gardeners can help by providing the right flowers - good plants to try include crocus, grape hyacinth (muscari) and winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis), as well as pulmonaria, Clematis cirrhosa, Erica carnea and spring-flowering mahonias. Old-fashioned varieties of cottage garden plants are full of nectar and a good food source for all insects. If you bring bees into the garden you're bringing in pollinators and you will also attract hoverflies which prey on aphids, so with the right kind of plants you can attract a lot of beneficial insects. Make sure the garden is sheltered as you'll have much more insect activity if it's less windy. Put fruit in early on, hawthorns for example will do really well, then go on to the annuals and herbaceous plants. Other good plantings include Leopard's bane, Doronicum, a group of yellow daisy-flowered perennials which are clump forming, hardy, will grow in most soils and take shade. To attract bees later in the season, try Sedum spectabile, the ice plant, and Calamintha nepeta, a herbaceous perennial whose small flowers last a long time. Other winners for bees include the giant scabious, Cephalaria gigantea, which can reach 8ft and produces big yellow scabious flowers in summer.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show takes place on May 22-26 (May 22 & 23: RHS members only). Tickets must be booked in advance on 0870 247-1226 or at www.rhs.org.uk/flowershows
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