Nature on our doorsteps: Planning ahead for springtime pollinators

Rosaleen Dwyer is the County Heritage Officer at South Dublin County Council – every week she gives us an insight into nature on our doorsteps and the beautiful biodiversity of its plants and wildlife

WITH the drop in temperatures over the last week, winter has finally arrived.

The unusually mild November weather had allowed some plants to continue flowering, and this helped wasps, flies and bees to feed a little longer.

Cold frosty weather finishes off most of the late flowers.

This, in turn, finishes off the last of the worker wasps and many of this season’s adult flies.

Queens of this year’s bumblebee and wasp nests also finally settle down to hibernate for winter in their carefully selected hiding places.

When they emerge in the uncertain weather conditions of next spring, insects will need to quickly find a plentiful supply of flowers to provide enough nectar and pollen to help them build up enough energy to breed the next generation.

Hellebores and Rosemary are a great combination for early springtime pollinators

In November, planting spring bulbs and early flowering plants can significantly help to improve the survival rates of these queens and other early springtime insects.

Not all bulbs, however, will be useful to emerging insects.

While Daffodils are perhaps the most popular bulb planted, these iconic springtime flowers unfortunately do not offer much pollen or nectar to insects.

Instead, flowering bulbs like snowdrops, crocuses, and grape hyacinths (Muscari) offer an abundance of nectar and pollen.

Snowdrops, in particular, can come into flower as early as January, followed shortly afterwards by colourful crocuses in February and March.

This is when these flowers are most useful for insects, as queens may be woken from their hibernation too early during milder weather conditions.

Even a window box, a garden tub, or a hanging basket of mixed crocuses and snowdrops will be welcomed by springtime pollinators.

Other flowering plants that will be visited in the garden are spring Heathers and Hellebores, while growing nectar-rich Lungwort with Primroses will also provide a wonderful display of colour for us.

The bushy herb, Rosemary, also flowers very early in the year, attracting bees and hoverflies.

A little planning by us now will really benefit springtime pollinators by helping tide them over until the main flush of Dandelions arrives in April and May.