The nectar index
Every plant here hides its nectar behind a long tube, a sealed lip or a spring-loaded stamen. Bumble bees have the tongue, the weight and the muscle to get in — and the pollen that comes back out is the reward your garden keeps.
Digitalis purpurea
The tube is far too long for a honey bee's tongue. Bumble bees climb right inside and come out dusted with pollen.
Aconitum napellus
The nectar sits at the back of a hooded bloom. Only a long-tongued bumble bee can reach it — and so the plant keeps its nectar for its best courier.
Antirrhinum majus
The flower is clamped shut. Bumble bees are heavy enough to pry the lips apart, then walk inside — an entry no small bee can force.
Lupinus perennis
A lupine releases pollen only when shaken at a precise frequency. Bumble bees buzz it open; other insects leave empty-handed.
Borago officinalis
Refills its nectar within minutes, so short-tongued bumble bees return all day. Scatter it through the border as a top-up station.
Delphinium elatum
Each bloom hides a nectar spur at the back. The long-tongued garden bumble bee is built to reach it and pollinates as it backs out.
Lonicera periclymenum
Opens at dusk and fills with scent, feeding long-tongued bumble bees into the evening when other flowers have closed.
Symphytum officinale
A workhorse: dozens of hanging bells per stem and a nectar supply that keeps early colonies alive while fruit trees finish blooming.
A note on exclusivity
A garden that admits nothing but bumble bees does not exist — but a garden of long-tongued, deep-corolla flowers is as close as it gets. Where a flower is also reachable by honey bees, we mark it a bumble favourite rather than a bumble exclusive, so you always know what you are planting.