Seed Packets for Garden Centres & Farm Shops

Red Campion is a perennial wildflower most commonly found in shady woodland meadows and hedgerows. It displays beautiful vivid pink flowers with five deeply notched petals.

How Red Campion Benefits Pollinators

Red Campion is recognised by the RHS as being beneficial to pollinating insects and features on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list. Learn more at rhs.org.uk/plantsforpollinators

The flowers contain large quantities of nectar located deep inside the tube that is formed where the five petals are fused together. This makes it a favourite of long-tongued pollinators such as the Small Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum), the Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) and the Orange-Tip Butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines) the latter of which is featured on our seed packet.

In addition to attracting pollinators, Red Campion serves as a nursery for the next generation. The Orange-Tip Butterfly lays its eggs inside the flowers, and similarly, the Campion Moth (Sideridis rivularis) also uses the plant as a site for egg-laying. When the eggs hatch, the caterpillars feed on the developing seeds inside the flower.

By both feeding and being a home to pollinators, Red Campion plays a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity and supporting the health of the British ecosystem. Planting Red Campion in your garden not only helps sustain pollinators but also nurtures the next generation of these essential insects.

Cornflower is a hugely popular annual wildflower that produces exquisite blue composite flower heads on upright stems. The flowers attract a wide avariety of pollinators. 

How Cornflower Benefits Pollinators

Cornflower is recognised by the RHS as being particularly beneficial to pollinating insects and thus features on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list. Learn more at rhs.org.uk/plantsforpollinators

The flowers of Cornflower are shallow and the nectar can be accessed by short tongued bees. There are many native pollinators that enjoy visiting the flowers; two of the most common to be seen are honey bees (Apis mellifera) and Red-Tailed Bumblebees (Bombus lapidarius) - as seen on our seed packet.

Cornflower is one of the few wild flowers to have both floral and extrafloral nectaries. The extrafloral nectaries are areas other than the flowers which secrete droplets of nectar to attract visiting insects.

The nectar of Cornflower has a particularly high sugar content of approximately 34% - this provides visiting insects with a great source of energy to fuel their long flights. They will also take the nectar back to the nest for the colony. The high sugar content makes it the perfect nectar for honeybees to make honey from. The tiny pollen grains gather on the bees hair while they gather nectar, the bees then rub the pollen into balls that are carried on the corbiculae (pollen baskets) back to the nest. The pollen is a protein-rich food source for the growing larvae.

After providing a feast for insects during the summer months, the flowers set seed which, once mature, are a favourite food of Goldfinches and other small-seed eating birds.

Oxeye Daisy is a familiar wildflower across most of the UK, it produces dazzling white and yellow composite flowers supported by long, slender stems. It produces one of the highest quantities of pollen of any meadow species. 

How Oxeye Daisies Benefit Pollinators

Oxeye Daisy is recognised by the RHS as being particularly beneficial to pollinating insects and thus features on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list. Learn more at rhs.org.uk/plantsforpollinators

The flowers produce one of the highest quantities of pollen of any meadow species. Any visiting insects receive a generous dusting of the bright yellow pollen - a protein-rich food source for larvae back at the nest. Due to being an easy source of large quantities of food, the flowers are visited by a wide variety of insects including short-tongued bees and hoverflies. Notable species include the Sharp-collared Furrow Bee (Lasioglossum malachurum) and the Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) as seen on our seed packet.

Meadow Buttercup is the largest native member of the buttercup family. The slender stems terminate in golden yellow flowers. It attracts very specialist pollinators that are able to digest the slightly toxic pollen. 

How Meadow Buttercups Benefit Pollinators

Meadow Buttercup is recognised by the RHS as being beneficial to pollinating insects and features on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list. Learn more at rhs.org.uk/plantsforpollinators

However, due to the pollen being slightly toxic, you are unlikely to see common bees and butterflies feeding on these plants. There are pollen specialist bees with digestive systems that are able to remove and absorb the toxins present in buttercup pollen. Two of these specialist bees are the Sleepy Carpenter Bee (Chelostoma florisomne) and the Red Mason Bee (Osmia bicornis) both of which can be seen on our Meadow Buttercup seed packet artwork. The Sleepy Carpenter Bee is so named because of its unique and endearing habit of curling up inside the petals of buttercup flowers during bad weather. The distinctive behavior is a survival mechanism, allowing it to stay safe from harsh weather conditions while also enjoying a temporary refuge in the brightly coloured blooms.

Feed the Soil

The species in this mixture have been selected for their ability to nourish and re-vitalise the soil ready for the following crop. Perfect to use on a veg patch or allotment. 

After the plant material is worked into the soil, both macroorganisms (like worms and beetles) and microorganisms (such as bacteria and fungi) begin decomposing the biomass. As they break down the plant material, they liberate nitrogen, carbon, and other nutrients, supporting their own growth and contributing to a thriving, diverse soil ecosystem rich in fertility.

Feed the Pollinators

If left long enough to produce flowers, all three species in the mixture have the capacity to provide pollen and nectar to pollinating insects. Phacelia is particularly beneficial to pollinators and is recognised for this by featuring on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list. Learn more at rhs.org.uk/plantsforpollinators.