Report on the talk "Perfect Plants for People and Pollinators"

Perfect Plants for People and Pollinators: Gillian Taylor :- Tuesday 1st September

We hear a lot about the urgent need to feed our pollinators despite difficult conditions caused by climate change.

Gillian Taylor’s practical no-nonsense approach was a breath of fresh air.

She brought with her a glorious display of flowers picked that day from her own garden and impressed upon us that they had all survived the drought and the heatwaves in dry clay soil, with no extra care whatsoever.

It was simply a matter of being prepared to take a few risks and accepting the fact that some plants may not grow as tall in a dry summer.

Insects will obviously feed on our native wildflowers, but as long as they can access a nectar store, they are remarkably adaptable.

It’s a question of growing all kinds of different flower shapes that are suitable for the way they feed.

Insects with short tongues need shallow, open flower heads, whereas long-tongued insects can access deeper flower heads such as foxgloves.

If we were expecting only a short list of plants that could stand up to the hottest summer on record, we were amazed.

Gillian’s slide show featured alliums, sedums, daisy-type plants such as helianthus, and the summer flowering Clematis Praecox.

Her persicarias have thrived in full sun by a hot wall, and her Heuchera Autumn Bride flourished in the deep dry shade beneath a tree in her garden.

Her roses relished the sun, especially a ground cover variety called Surrey which has been flowering since June and is still going strong.

She encouraged us to design our flowerbeds with as many different flower shapes as possible, from flat, open ‘landing pads’ to complex cones like Buddleia, full of tiny nectar-rich florets.

Flowering shrubs give structure to a garden and are a valuable source of insect food. Mahonia, skimmia, osmanthus and cotoneaster were just a few of the suggestions she made.

Sweet peas could be encouraged to ramble through everything, increasing the scent and the beauty, as well as the diversity.

The clear message was that whatever the climate throws at us, there are plants out there that will cope, giving us beautiful borders, and feeding our insect population.

As well as flowers, Gillian brought a small selection of her favourite tools and garden equipment with her.

There were items like long-range secateurs that enabled her to prune at high level, and a thorn-proof sleeve to protect her entire arm, and self-sharpening shears that can be used one-handed.

These are all things that help her tend her garden with less effort, for longer periods, and get more enjoyment from the process, and there was much interest shown.

The Flower of the Month competition was won by Jenny Hall with a passionflower