Abelia

Value to bees

Nectar

High

Pollen

Moderate

As a honey crop

Not a honey source

Which bees, and why

Worked steadily by bumblebees and honey bees for months. Its late persistence overlaps the ivy flow, which makes it useful to the ivy bee and to late-season bumblebee colonies.

A short tubular flower with a flared mouth, suiting medium-tongued bees.

Worth knowing

A good nectar source over one of the longest seasons of any garden shrub.

Flowering

In flower

July to November (northern hemisphere)

An exceptionally long season, from midsummer until the first hard frost.

Growing it

Conditions

Full sun to light shade on well-drained soil, sheltered from cold winds. Hardy in most temperate gardens with some shelter.

Size

1.5-2.5 m tall and as wide.

Native range

A hybrid of Chinese parents, raised in cultivation.

Suits

Small gardens, Large gardens, Hedgerow, Containers and window boxes

• Prune lightly after flowering or in spring; it flowers on both old and new wood.
• Semi-evergreen, holding leaves through mild winters and dropping them in hard ones.
• The persistent pink sepals are not flowers — they stay long after the nectar has gone.

What it looks like

An arching semi-evergreen shrub with small glossy leaves, bronzing in cold weather, and clusters of small scented white flowers flushed pink, with persistent rosy sepals.