Did you know……there are a staggering 270 types of bees in the UK…and an even more staggering 20,000 in the world.
Perhaps even more interesting than that is that there are far more pollinators in the world than just the humble 20,000 Bees. But, what are they, how exactly can we lure them into our gardens in the first place and what can we do for them once they’re there?
Enter, Jean Vernon – garden writer and pollinator expert! Jean has written not one but two books on the subject of plant pollinators starting with The Secret Lives of Garden Bees and more recently the aptly named Attracting Garden Pollinators. Through her love of plants and pollinators Jean has gathered an immense wealth of knowledge on both subjects which culminates in her writing.
We’ve always been focussed on promoting a garden that welcomes pollinators but after reading the latest book in particular its opened my eyes to so much more than bees and butterflies. Thankfully our garden is now awash with all sorts of insects that we’d never seen until this year
Full to the brim with facts, figures, information and beautiful pictures all about how we can all do just that bit more for our pollinator friends
Perhaps most importantly, aside from showing how we can bring them in and create a space for them – this book really gives us a reason and shows us the purpose for why we should be doing this. I wont say much more than that as I don’t want to repeat Jean’s wonderful book but this really highlighted for me just how we all have that power to make even the smallest difference. With one or two more pollinator friendly plants added here and there we’re creating a veritable buffet for them and that’s certainly no bad thing!
If you’d like to hear more from Jean then you can listen to her on a recent episode of my podcast ‘Tales From The Potting Bench’, here. Jean talks about how her own garden is now full of plants to bring in and sustain the lives of all of the bees, wasps, butterflies (and more) around us!
Both The Secret Life Of Bees and Attracting Garden Pollinators are available NOW from Pen & Sword Books
NOTE: Many thanks to Pen & Sword books for sending me copies of both books earlier in the year, in return for my review of them.
View From The Potting Bench 