Fothergill's RHS Flowers for Pollinators Collection

Details:

• Botanical Name: Various premium pollinator species, pre-sorted into six separately packed varieties for precise planting and border planning.
• Plant Class: Mixed Collection, containing a robust balance of hardy annuals and structural perennials that deliver a continuous succession of pollen from summer through to late autumn.
• Cosmos Peppermint Rock (50 Seeds): Produces beautiful, large bicolour blooms over soft and airy feathery foliage, reaching a mature height of 120cm to add light movement to mid-border positions.
• Echinacea Bravado (25 Seeds): Features long-lasting, weather-resistant pink coneflowers with prominent raised centres, reaching a height of 120cm and making it an ideal choice for a classic cottage garden layout.
• Poppy Mother of Pearl (250 Seeds): Offers an exceptionally easy-to-grow option that produces romantic, refined, and smoky-tinted pastel blossoms on 60cm stems, providing a highly accessible source of early summer pollen.
• Delphinium Avalon (20 Seeds): Develops spectacular, dramatic spikes of flowers in varying light to dark shades up to a tall height of 150cm, offering essential vertical structure and deep nectar pockets for bumblebees.
• Echinops Blue Glow (30 Seeds): Yields highly ornamental, large metallic-blue globe thistles on sturdy 120cm stems, serving as a magnet for honeybees and adding architectural interest to dried arrangements later in the season.
• Sunflower Autumn Beauty (25 Seeds): Grows into tall, impressive 180cm plants bearing multi-headed blooms in unusual bronze, terracotta, and gold shades, providing a high-volume late-season feeding station for flying insects.

Care Instructions:

• Sowing Position: Choose a clean, weed-free location in full sun with well-drained soil, raking the ground to a fine, crumbly tilth before planting to ensure optimum seed-to-soil contact.
• Sowing Method: Follow the individual packet instructions for each variety, sowing the annuals directly into outdoor drifts from March to May, or starting the structural perennials indoors in modular trays to transplant out later.
• Moisture and Thinning: Keep the seedbed or compost consistently moist using a fine-rose watering can to prevent disturbing the seeds, and thin out young seedlings gradually to prevent overcrowding as they establish.
• Wildlife Maintenance Note: Leave the faded flower heads and seed capsules standing on the stalks throughout the autumn months, as the dried structures provide essential winter food for wild birds and shelter for overwintering insects.