Small Pots, Real Pollinators

There is a particular sort of comfort in a windowsill of pots in July: the hum of bees working lavender while the kettle boils. You do not need a garden to make a genuine difference to pollinators. A handful of containers on a sunny doorstep, a balcony, or a courtyard can become a proper little larder, and it will keep feeding bees, hoverflies, and butterflies from early summer right through to the first frosts.

The trick is to think like a pollinator. Bees are short-sighted foragers looking for generous, easy-to-reach flowers in a sheltered, warm spot. They are creatures of habit, too: once they learn your pots, they will return daily. So the aim is simple — plenty of nectar and pollen, close together, out of the wind, in the sunniest place you have.

Find the Warmest, Stillest Corner You Have

Before you buy a single plant, watch your space for a day. South-facing walls and fences soak up heat and release it slowly, which suits lavender and salvia enormously. A spot that catches sun from mid-morning until late afternoon is ideal; four to six hours of direct light will do if that is what you have.

Shelter matters as much as sun. A cold, blustery corner will blow bees off flowers and dry out compost fast. Even a low wall, a railing, or a line of pots in front of a hedge will baffle the wind enough. Raise pots onto feet or bricks so drainage holes never sit in water, and group them closely — several pots together create their own humid, calm microclimate and hold one another steady in gusts.

The Three Reliable Workhorses

If you plant nothing else, plant these three. They are generous, forgiving, and will carry the season from June to October.

• Lavender — English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is the hardest-working of all. Choose a compact variety such as 'Hidcote' or 'Munstead' for pots. It needs gritty, free-draining compost and full sun, and it hates wet roots in winter, so mix in plenty of horticultural grit. Trim lightly after flowering, never into old wood.
• Salvia — Salvia nemorosa types, such as 'Caradonna' with its deep violet spires, flower for weeks and are beloved of bumblebees. They are happy in a decent-sized pot, and cutting them back after the first flush often brings a second round in late summer.
• Nasturtium — Sow a few seeds directly into a pot in late May and stand back. Trailing nasturtiums spill over the rim and hold their orange and crimson flowers high enough for butterflies and long-tongued bees. Poor soil suits them: too rich and you get leaves at the expense of flowers.

Fill the Gaps and Stretch the Season

Three plants is a start, not a plan. Layer in a few extras to cover the weeks when the main three rest.

• Borage — starry blue flowers, endlessly refilled, and a magnet for honeybees. Sow in a deep pot; the taproot resents disturbance.
• Thyme and oregano — low, creeping herbs that flower in early summer and cope with drought. Perfect for the front edge of a pot, and useful in the kitchen.
• Cosmos — tall and airy, ideal for a sheltered corner where its height will not catch the wind. Deadhead weekly and it flowers until October.
• Sedum — a late-season lifeline. The flat pink heads of Sedum spectabile in September are a landing pad for butterflies when little else is open.

Single-flowered varieties are always better than doubles. Doubles may look frilly, but their petals hide the nectar and pollen, so bees waste a visit. If you choose one thing from this list, choose generosity of flower over fancy form.

Compost, Water, and the Small Daily Round

Use a peat-free multi-purpose compost and mix in roughly one part grit to four parts compost for lavender, thyme, and salvia. Pots need feeding: a fortnightly dose of a potassium-rich tomato feed from midsummer keeps flowers coming. Water in the morning if you can, aiming at the compost rather than the leaves, and check pots daily during hot spells — containers dry out far faster than borders.

Deadheading is the quiet luxury of container gardening. Ten minutes with a pair of scissors, nipping off spent flower heads, tells each plant to make more. Leave a few seed heads on the nasturtiums and teasels for the birds later on. Do not spray anything; the point of the exercise is a garden that insects can safely visit.

A Pot by the Door

Start small and keep it close to the house, where you will actually see it. A pot of lavender by the step, a salvia beside the door, nasturtium tumbling from a trough on the wall — that is enough to keep the air moving with wings all summer. Sit out with a cup of tea in the late afternoon, when foraging is at its busiest, and watch who arrives. In a season or two you will know your regulars by sight, and you will find yourself planting for them as thoughtlessly as you fill the kettle.