MANY BULB FLOWERS ARE ATTRACTIVE TO BEES AND BUTTERFLIES Many bulb flowers are attractive to butterflies and bees. They owe this to the large amount of nectar in their flowers. Bees and butterflies are fond of it. Nectar is a sweet syrupy liquid containing sugars, proteins and vitamins. The bees and butterflies need those substances to lay eggs. And while they fly from flower to flower, they take care of pollination of the flowers. A win-win situation. Butterfly on Allium giganteum COOPERATION WITH BUGLIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY FOUNDATION Together with organisations such as Buglife, the Dutch Beekeepers Association and the Dutch Butterfly Foundation, we have developed special mixtures which are bee and butterfly friendly. Bumble bee on Hyacinthoides non-scripta BULBS FOR BUTTERFLIES The flower bulbs which we use in our butterfly mixtures are all in the top 10 of butterfly-friendly plants. Of the bulbs below, all specie forms are good for butterflies. The varieties are examples of valuable types. The nectar and pollen values depend on various other conditions such as weather, location, etc. In the two columns, the values are given from 1 (moderate but useful) to 5 (very good). Nectar Pollen Allium sphaerocephalon, moly, giganteum 5 5 Nectaroscordum siculum 5 5 Chionodoxa forbesii 3 3 Hyacinthoides non-scripta 3 3 Muscari armeniacum and ‘aucheri varieties’ 3 3 13
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