Plants for 4 seasons

To make comparisons of pollinator populations between nectar points, the nectar producing plants need to be limited to a few clusters of easy to grow garden varieties. Everyone has their own list of nectar producers. For instance, according to Dr. Vetaley Stashenko, an apiculturist, naturopath and apitherapist, the five top plants to support the honeybees with nectar and pollen throughout the season are Borage, Echium (also called Viper’s Bugloss), Goldenrod, Melissa (also called Lemon Balm), and Phacelia (also called Tansy). 

The following plants for UK gardens are nectar-rich, easy to propagate and taken together make a standard collection for making comparisons between sites throughout the year.  The plants have been chosen because, apart from Lavender and Dahlia, they are easy to propagate from either seed or by division of clumps, but importantly they are close to their wild forms and have interesting  life histories.  For example, Purple loosestrife and Lunwort were used by Charles Darwin in his pioneering experiments into plant fertilization.

1 Winter/Spring Hellebores

Helliborus orientalis

Hellebores are split into two basic groups, acaulescent (without stems) and caulescent (with stems).

The caulescent species include Helleborus argutifolius, Helleborus foetidus, and Helleborus lividus.

The acaulescent species include Helleborus orientalis, Helleborus niger, Helleborus purpurascens, Helleborus viridis, Helleborus atrorubens, and all others.

Helleborus are distinctive, long-lived, evergreen plants which form a two-foot tall and wide clump of alternately arranged, dark green, serrated, palmately divided leaves. Each erect flower stalk on H. orientalis bears a single 2-4" white, greenish white, pink, or lavender, outward facing, bell-shaped bloom wheras the H. argustifolius bears a greenish white flower. Interestingly, in an evolutionary response to the need for pollinators, the petals of the hellebores have evolved into what are called nectaries, since nectar serves as an effective and vital attraction to pollinating insects on their first chilly flights. The Helleborus is a cool season flowering plant as its blooming season is mid-winter to late spring. The flowers can last for up to 2 months and are often the earliest flower to appear in the garden.

Although the H. orientalis is native to Greece, Turkey, and Caucasus, and H. argustifolius is native to Corsica and Sardinia, other hellebores are native to the rugged terrain of old Yugoslavia; the greatest concentration of species occurs in countries around the Black Sea coast of Turkey and into Russia. There is disagreement among botanists as to exactly how many species of hellebores exist. One of the main elements of confusion in identifying the species involves the ability of plants to cross pollinate. There is also a wide range of forms within many individual species, further adding to the confusion. Problems arise for gardeners when individual plants vary from one season to the next and individuals of the same clone seem slightly different.

Helleborus foetidus is a perennial herb widely distributed in western Europe. In the Iberian Peninsula, the species typically grows in the understory of deciduous and mixed forests. Plants consist of one or a few ramets that develop a terminal inflorescence after several seasons of vegetative growth. Each inflorescence generally produces 25-100 flowers over its 1.5-2.5 month flowering period, but these open gradually and only rarely are there >2-5 flowers simultaneously open in each inflorescence.

Flowers are hermaphroditic, self-compatible, extremely long-lived (up to 20 d), and are pollinated by medium- and large-sized bees, mainly bumble bees and anthophorid bees. Although the species is self-compatible and a small proportion of flowers set fruit in the absence of pollinators via spontaneous self-pollination, insect pollination is required for abundant seed production. Despite the extremely low pollinator visitation rates, fruit set of H. foetidus flowers is not pollen limited, which may be explained by the long duration of flowers (click here for details).

The floral nectaries, which are deeply hidden inside the corolla, provide abundant nectar to pollinators. The dense populations of yeasts that quite often build up in the floral nectar degrade it by depleting its sugar content (click here for more details). Yeasts are brought to floral nectar in the tongues of visiting bumble bees, the species' main pollinators (see here).

Flowers and developing fruits are frequently eaten by mice and generalist lepidopteran larvae, which may collectively destroy or seriously damage up to 75-100 % of flowers and/or developing fruits over the flowering and fruit growth period. The green, persistent sepals contribute resources to the development of seeds through photosynthesis. Fruit maturation and seed shedding take place in June-early July. Seeds have a well-developed elaiosome, and are dispersed by ants after falling to the ground (see here). Seeds have an extended dormancy, the vast majority germinating during the second spring after entering the seed bank.

The amount of seed set without hand pollination is a measure of the abundance of pollinators during the long flowering season.

2 Spring Coltsfoot: Tussilago farfara

http://www.arkive.org/colts-foot/tussilago-farfara/

Since coltsfoot is among the first to flower, as early as February, it has scant competition for insect pollinators and is in fact an important source of nectar for the emergent bee population. The ray-flower female portion is comprised of the hundreds of radiating florets around the circumference of the composite flower, the stigmas are attached at the base of each ray to the "flower head" at the top of the stem. The disk-flower male florets are in the center of the composite flower with about forty pollen-producing anthers. Pollination is effectuated by this arrangement as an insect departing from the male center of one flower would alight on the female rays of the adjacent flower so that the requisite pollen is transferred from the stamen of one flower to the stigma of a different flower in the cycle of induced genetic variation. The practical arrangement of the male anther and the female stigma to ensure pollinator fertilization would in and of itself facilitate the spread of coltsfoot; the fact that it can pollinate itself further increases its chances of propagation. Self-pollination is effected when the flower head closes, the male and female florets are thereby compressed to close physical proximity. The coltsfoot is thus a perfect flower, it can provide for its own pollination. The result is the creation of a seed for each female floret. The seeds develop a gauze-like appendage called a pappus that serves to promote wind transport capable of moving the seeds more than 8 miles away. Scottish Highlanders gathered coltsfoot pappi to stuff pillows and mattresses. And if this were all not enough, the coltsfoot grows vegetatively, its roots extend away for the initial flower to promote the spread of the plant. Coltsfoot is therefore successful because it grows in nutrient deficient disturbed waste areas like roadsides with arenaceous (sandy) soils, is highly fecund, produces copious quantities of wind-distributed seeds and propagates vegetatively so that it is very difficult to eradicate once established.

3 Spring Lungworts: (Pulmonaria)

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2336/

Lungworts are valuable garden plants, not only for their pink or blue flowers, but also for their foliage. The clusters of nodding flowers, which attract bees, stand out well against the plain leaves. Plants make good trouble-free ground cover for moist shade; they spread slowly and need little care. 'Redstart' is often one of the first varieties of lungwort to flower, with coral-red blooms sometimes appearing in mid- to late winter. It has oval, velvety, spotted leaves typical of pulmonarias. The flowering time for most varieties is April to May, but there is much scope for investigating the variation in seasonality. The lungworts are members of the massive and highly successful borage family, all of which are nectar rich.

http://www.seedaholic.com/borage-blue-borago-officinalis-organic.html

4 Summer Smartweeds (Persicaria)

The genus Persicaria (smartweeds) was established in 1754. The genus was later typified by Britton & Brown (1913) based on Polygonum persicaria L.

Persicaria comprises 150 species worldwide. It is a cosmopolitan genus occurring mainly in temperate regions but with some species in tropical and subtropical regions, from sea level to high altitude (Heywood et al., 2007). The majority of them are perennials, some of which are edible and widely cultivated such as P. odorata (Vietnamese coriander).

http://bulletin.ipm.illinois.edu/pastpest/articles/200106k.html

Beespeaker Saijiki describes Smart Weed as follows.

http://beespeakersaijiki.blogspot.co.uk/2013_11_01_archive.html

“What we in British Columbia call Smart Weed (more polite than smart arse) is Polygonum persicarium also known as lady's-thumb. Persicaria comes from the Latin word for "peach" because of the similarity of its leaves to those from the peach tree. The "knobby knees" of Polygonum refers to its jointed stems. Smartweed competes with food crops and can cause yield losses and harvesting delays. It thrives in moist, shady conditions and I am very familiar with it, having spend hours on UBC Farm weeding it out of the veggie rows. At the time I didn't realize it was edible and medicinal. Foragers use smart weed sparingly to lend hot pepper flavor to soups.

The common name bistort rhymes with distort, the "tort "meaning twisted, referring to the roots. There are wild bistorts and cultivars from all over the globe, some of which are great bee plants for gardens. You may be most familiar with the classic border perennials like Persicaria bistoria 'Superba' with its light pink blossoms on long stems aka pink pokers. The red cultivars are also popular, and although they break the rules for bee plant colours, on late fall days they attract honeybees when not much else is in bloom.

Bistort is a boggy member of the knotweed family. As I was taking these photos, my feet were squelching in the wet grass around the dried flower garden at VanDusen. Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firetail' aka red bistort is a long-blooming (midsummer to late autumn) plant which grows just over a metre tall. There are dwarf versions as well, but I can't vouch if they attract bees as well as this cultivar. It's a shade tolerant plant which can tolerate different soils, including clay, but it does prefer wet feet.

An infusion of bistort was believed to drive out evil spirits.Witchipedia's list of alternative names for P. bistorta names reads like a spell from Hogwart's including Osterick, Snakeroot, Easter Mangiant, Adderwort, Twice Writhen, Pudding grass, Serpentaria, Dracunculus, Serpentary Dragonwort, Patience dock, Red Legs, and Dragon's Scales. The roots have been soaked in water and boiled to eat as famine food in Europe and the seeds were used as chicken feed. Young leaves and shoots were cooked inBistort Herb Pudding aka Easter-mangiant. It is is a boil-in-a-bag dish made of simple ingredients including oatmeal, barley, and hedgerow herbs such as sweet cicely, nettles, black current leaves, and yellow dock. Bistort pudding was traditionally prepared in May when other vegetables were few and far between. This dish is still eaten in parts of northern England (Cumberland). According to the authors of Seaweed and Eat It Easter mangiant was a fertility pudding, eaten at the end of lent when women wanted to conceive.

Brazilian scientists studied Polygonum punctatum and isolated the sesquiterpenedialdehyde polygodial as the active chemical constituent which along with tannin gives the plantits antibiotic, anti-flammatory and anti-hyperalgesic qualities. Plants from this genus have been used as astringent gargles and wound washes. Caution is warranted in the ingestion of bistort because of its high tannin content which can cause nausea and liver toxicity.

American bistort (Polygonum bistortoides) has a white flower head and is very attractive in a meadow. The roots were eaten raw or roasted in the fire by Rocky Mountain tribes, with a flavor that has been compared to chestnuts. I would like to try to grow it in my back yard, but the seeds are hard to find and difficult to germinate.

Feral smartweeds have historically been a major honey plant in the U. S. and Canada. In the book Plants for Bees by Kirk and Howes the authors say that although not a favoured honey plant in Britain, in other countries Persicarias produce a dark, spicy honey that is quick to crystallize. They suggest that the aquatic Persicaria ( P. amphibria) may be a good source of nectar to plant around pods and wet wastelands.

For a great blog post on Persicaria cultivars check out this article by Jan Verschoor”.

http://www.verschoorperennials.com/articles/56-persicaria.html

http://www.bfn.de/fileadmin/MDB/documents/themen/siedlung/biodiversity_and_cities_bibliography.pdf

http://www.greenfacts.org/en/biodiversity/l-3/1-define-biodiversity.htm

5 Poached Egg Plant  (Limnanthes douglasii)

Limnanthes douglasii is an flowering plant in the faimily Limnanthaceae (meadowfoam) commonly known as poached egg plant or Douglas' meadowfoam. It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows in wet, grassy habitat, such as spring meadows. It can grow in poorly drained clay soils. The plant was collected by the Scottish explorer and botanist David Douglas, who worked on the west coast of America in the 1820s.

The plant usually bears white flowers with yellow centers, hence the name "poached egg plant", but flower color can vary across subspecies. It is a popular ornamental plant grown from seed as an annual.  It attracts hoverflies and is bees.

This plant has gained the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Sowing: Sow indoors Feb to March or outdoors April to May

Limnanthes can be sown early indoors or directly where they are to flower in spring or in late summer to early autumn for overwintering. They germinate best at temperatures around 16°C (60°F), in around 14 to 20 days.

For attractive winter/early spring flowering pot plants, sow in a cool greenhouse from mid summer to early autumn.

Sowing Direct:

Prepare the ground well and rake to a fine tilth. Sow 3mm (1/8in) deep in rows 30cm (12in) apart.

Thin out the seedlings to 10cm (4in) apart.

Sowing Indoors:

Sow indoors in early spring 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost date is due. Keep soil moderately moist during germination. Plant outside after all risk of frosts has passed.

Cultivation:

They prefer full sun and a cool moist root run and because of this do very well when grown as an edging to paths.

In warm spots, Limnanthes will self-seed freely and can be left to naturalise, germinating and flowering at different times. This can be imitated by sowing in autumn for flowers as early as April, and from spring to July for a long sequence of summer flowers.

6 Summer Lavender in containers

Growing lavender in containers can be done if you follow a few simple guidelines. The main things to consider are size of container, adequate light, drainage, water, pruning and feeding. Remember it is dampness, more than cold, that is responsible for killing lavender plants. Dampness can come in the form of wet roots during the winter months or high humidity in the summer.

First of all, your container must be adequate in size. As lavender is a Mediterranean herb, it deals well with tight root spaces in well drained soil. Though the root ball is usually much larger than the plant itself and you must allow for this in a container, lavender’s roots do prefer to be fairly crowded. Therefore, the container should be proportional to the size of the rootball, i.e., not more than an inch or two larger than the rootball. Too much soil and few roots can cause excessive wetness to linger in the soil, which is death to lavender.

 Locate your lavender containers in a very sunny location. Your lavender containers need as much sun as is recommended for lavender planted in the garden, about 8 hours a day.

 Make sure there are adequate drainage holes in the container you select. If not, make them by drilling additional holes. It might be advisable to add an inch or two of gravel to the bottom of the container, to insure adequate draining of water and drying of the soil between waterings. Some people prefer a lighter weight filler material, especially if the container is to be moved around throughout the season. Soil should be a light and “fluffy” mixture, well aerated, not heavy to allow for good drainage. Some gardeners tell me they add a tablespoon of lime to bring the alkalinity to the level most appreciated by lavender.

 Lavenders are fairly drought tolerant plants, but like any plant in a container, the smaller the soil mass, the more quickly the container dries out and the more attention to watering is required. This does not mean daily watering, but watering when the soil is dry. Lavender does not like to be dehydrated and much like rosemary, it is very nearly impossible to bring it back to its former glory once dried. So, not too wet, but not dried out either. Keep winter watering to a minimum and avoid overwatering at any time.

Like all container plants, lavender will deplete the nutrition from the soil more quickly than plants planted out in the garden. Lavender likes to be repotted yearly, and this is a good time to mix a time-release fertilizer such as Osmocote into the potting mix. This is an excellent way to provide nutrients, slowly and on a regular basis. There is some school of thought that the Spanish lavender (L. stoechas or L. dentata) needs an additional monthly boost.

 Container grown lavender will benefit from a light pruning in the spring, before budding and a light clean up again in the summer. This keeps the lavender from becoming scraggly and leggy. It also keeps air circulating well.

Start your container gardens with plants, not seeds, as most cultivars do not come true from seed. In addition, the seeds need scarification, chilling and they take nearly a month to germinate. Most garden centers carry a fairly good selection of lavenders, with many well suited to container culture.

 Some of the smaller growing varieties such as L. angustifolia ‘Nana Alba,’ and L. angustifolia ‘Irene Doyle' are naturally small forming and adapt very well to container culture. Other L. angustifolia cultivars such as ‘Hidcote’ and ‘Munstead’, are slightly larger plants and will do well for a couple of years, but then should be either moved to a larger container or planted out in the garden.

 L. intermedia cultivars such as ‘Grosso’ and ‘Hidcote Giant’ can be grown in very large containers for the first two years, but eventually need to be given adequate space for root development and will do best if then transplanted to the garden. Care should be given to provide adequate spacing for these two on the patio as they have widely spreading spikes. 

7 Summer Germanders

Plants described as germanders belong to the Teucrium group The common British wild apecies is the wood germander or woodsage (Teucrium scorodonia).

Germanders are found worldwide and include shrubs, sub-shrubs and some herbaceous perennials. Many are grown for their foliage as well as their flowers, which are found in blue, white, pink and yellow. The foliage is often silver and can be aromatic. Tere are around 100 species, mainly from the Mediterranean, but also growing in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, in dry scrubland. They prefer full sun and well-drained soil. Some varieties can be tender, and all are best planted in a sheltered spot.

All germanders can be propagated from stem cuttings or root division.

The following are suitable for attracting pollinators

Teucrium x lucidrys

This is a amall evergreen shrub with a romatic foliage which is excellent for hedging.  It has reddish purple flowers that can be clipped very hard in April

Teucrium fruticans Compactum

This is a shrub with silver foliage and has pale blue flowers all summer long.

Teucrium chamaedrys

This goes by the name of wall germander. It has glossy dark evergreen aromatic foliage with purple/pink flowers.

8 Mid Summer Coneflower Echinacea

Echinacea is a type of coneflower native to eastern and central North American forests and grasslands. It has a distinctive spiked center with drooping petals and gets it’s common name from Greek word “ekhinos” for sea urchin. This perennial doesn’t need much water and prefers airy dry soil and can take partial shade making it a good candidate for our northwest gardens. They are often covered in bees when in bloom and produce ample nectar. Where Echinacea is grown commercially a flavorful medium colored honey can be produced.  

It can be grown from seed and is a clump-forming perennial with a tap root but also produced rhyzomes (see below) that can be easily separated to form new plants.

9 Late Summer: Purple loosestrife

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is a British native found in wet meadows, by streams and in damp soil. It also grows in many northern, temperate lands and takes its species name from the Greek for blood (lythron), which refers to either the colour of its flowers or, possibly, the way its foliage reddens in late summer. "Salicaria" is taken from its willow-like foliage.  This wet-meadow plant will perform only in moist soil or where there's a high water table. In dry gardens, both L. salicaria and L. virgatum can be grown on the shallow ledge of a pond . In dry gardens it can be grown in the shallow water of a container with no drainage. From late July until early September, the slender spikes of bright, almost magenta-pink flowers create a strong vertical presence, attracting large numbers of pollinators.

There are several garden-worthy, single forms of L. salicaria - 'Robert', is a shorter, crimson-flowered loosestrife that reaches only 90cm (3ft) in height; 'Morden Pink' only reaches about 80cm (2ft 6in); the deep-red 'Zigeunerblut' and the pale-pink 'Blush' both reach 1.2m (4ft).

The taller varieties are generally better value; they have longer flower spikes and a slender, elegant presence. An Asian species, Lythrum virgatum, has daintier, thinner flower spikes. Clear-pink 'The Rocket' reaches 90cm (3ft) and 'Rose Queen' is slightly shorter.

There are three flower forms, with different arrangements of stigma and stamen. These nectar-rich plants attract many insects, and their structure allows pollen to be transferred easily, encouraging genetic diverisity and vigour.

The problem with growing square-stemmed purple loosestrife in a garden setting is that the flower spikes are far too generous with their seeds. One plant could produce hundreds of unwanted seedlings if left to its own devices, so it's vital to cut away the spikes when they begin to fade in early or mid-September.  • Cuttings can be taken in April or May.

Cut when 4in-5in of top growth has appeared, trimming below the leaf joint and placing in a 50:50 mixture of compost and sharp sand. When rooted, pot the cuttings up individually.  Plants can also be lifted and divided in spring, when the shoots have begun to grow away strongly.

10 Autumn Sedum spectabile

Sedum spectabile belongs to the Crassulaceae and is a native of China, Korea and Japan. There is considerable confusion about its valid name. In the Botanic Garden this lovely plant is labelled Hylotelephium spectabile, a name change of some years ago due to differences in the flower structure. This is now in dispute, so, for this note, I shall call the plant by the name most gardeners know well. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening has it as Hylotelephium. As a matter of interest the 2004-2005 Plant Finder refers Hylotelephium to Sedum. (Incidentally, this is a most useful reference book also for up-to-date plant nomenclature.)

Sedum spectabile is a deciduous herb with fleshy, blue-green leaves. The inflorescence is flat topped, containing a large number of pink flowers. At flowering the plants are from 30 to 50cm tall. There are 15 cultivars offered in The Plant Finder. We grow 'Meteor' where the flowers are deep carmine red, and 'Indian Chief' with deep pink-red flowers. But there is a choice of flower colour from white - 'Album'; green and white - 'Stardust'; and to varying shades of pink to deep carmine red. The cultivar 'Variegatum' has blue-green and white variegated leaves.

 The well known and widely grown 'Autumn Joy' ('Herbstfreude') is a hybrid of Sedum spectabile (Ice Plant) and S. telephium (Orpine) - a native of eastern Europe to Siberia. With 'Herbstfreude' the dark pink flowers have no stamens but still attract the late butterflies.

Propagation

The cultivars by division of the tuberous roots with a growing point. The species by seed sown in early spring.

Cultivation

Sedum spectabile is easy to grow and has few pests or diseases, although leaf miner can cause damage sometimes. The plant is very accomodating but a well drained soil, in a sunny position will produce the best results. And to illustrate their longevity, we have grown 'Meteor' and 'Herbstfreude' in the island beds since 1969. Since they are vigorous plants they are best grown in a wide border among other herbaceous plants.

11 Autumn Open flowered Dahlias

http://www1.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/flowers/growing-dahlias/

Dahlias (Dahlia pinnata) are natives of central Mexico in the region of Mexico City. The early forms were mostly single flower types that grew on well-drained soils of volcanic origin. Because of their origin, dahlias require well-drained soils, fairly sunny locations. Dahlias provide one of the widest arrays of flower colours, sizes, and forms. They range from1/2-inch pompons to the "dinner plate" dahlias that may approach 12 or more inches in diameter. Flower forms include daisy-like single types and fully double types with intermediate forms such as collarettes and anemone types. Dahlias come in nearly all flower colours except true blues. Pollinators prefer the open flower types. There is plenty of scope for studying garden pollination in relation to the production of new varieties.

http://portlanddahlia.com/DahliaCulture/Breeding.html

12 Summer annuals for waste land

Borage

No plant is more easily grown. The seed need only be dropped and covered in any soil, from poor to rich, and the plants will grow like weeds, and even become such if allowed to have sway. Borage seems, however, to prefer rather light, dry soils, waste places and steep banks. Upon such the flavor of the flowers is declared to be superior to that produced upon richer ground, which develops a ranker growth of foliage.

In the garden the seeds are sown about ½ inch asunder and in rows 15 inches apart. Shortly after the plants appear they are thinned to stand 3 inches apart, the thinnings being cooked like spinach, or, if small and delicate, they may be made into salads. Two other thinnings may be given for similar purposes as the plants grow, so that at the final thinning the specimens will stand about a foot asunder. Up to this time the ground is kept open and clean by cultivation; afterwards the borage will usually have possession.

More popular than the use of the foliage as a potherb and a salad is the employment of borage blossoms and the tender upper leaves, in company or not with those of nasturtium, as a garnish or an ornament to salads, and still more as an addition to various cooling drinks. The best known of these beverages is cool tankard, composed of wine, water, lemon juice, sugar and borage flowers. To this "they seem to give additional coolness." They are often used similarly in lemonade, negus, claret-cup and fruit juice drinks.

The plant has possibly a still more important, though undeveloped use, as a bee forage. It is so easily grown and flowers so freely that it should be popular with apiarists, especially those who own or live near waste land, dry and stony tracts which they could sow to it.

For such places it has an advantage over the many weeds which generally dispute possession in that it may be readily controlled by simple cultivation. It generally can hold its own against the plant populace of such places.

Oil seed rape

There must have been since agriculture began a sort of uneasy relationship between crops and the weeds they generate. Most of the main crops drop seed that becomes buried in soil and emerges in a subsequent crop. Agriculturists have tried and still try without ultimate success to remove this desire of crops to drop their seed. Even global staples such as wheat and maize, that have been intensively selected and bred, still do it. Crops such as oilseed rape do it spectacularly, sometimes losing 10% or more of their seed at harvest, which turns up later as a weed of fields and a plant of waysides.

Dropped seed that emerges and reproduces inside the tilled part of fields has come to be named volunteer, while similar plants that become established on waysides and waste ground are named feral. The words volunteer and feral have become used in Europe to distinguish the environments in which plants are growing. Volunteers are influenced by what goes on in the field - by soil cultivation, weedkillers, and competition with other plants. Ferals usually live in poor stony ground, often polluted, but have escaped from the annual cycle of control in fields and may have the chance to evolve away from the source crop.

Oilseed rape (Brassica napus) has become a widely recognised source, leaving volunteers and ferals that can persist in a locality for years, growing as weeds or wayside plants, sometimes being transported around the countryside on wheels, rather than residing in one spot. Volunteers of this plant are among the top ten most common in-field weeds. Oilseed rape does not exist as a wild plant but it can cross-pollinate with its close relative Brassica rapa.

A piece of waste ground containing volunteers and ferals of oilseed rape is greatly boosted as a target for urban pollinators. The impact of deliberate sowing of oilseed rape in such areas is well worth investigating.