Bugle

Value to bees

Nectar

High

Pollen

Moderate

As a honey crop

Not a honey source

Which bees, and why

The two-lipped flowers with a landing platform suit long-tongued bumblebees, and it is one of the more productive shade plants for them. It is also a principal nectar source for the pearl-bordered fritillary.

A two-lipped flower with a lower landing lip and a moderately deep tube — a bumblebee flower rather than a general one.

Worth knowing

A good nectar source at a point in the season that is thinner than it looks, and specifically in shade where options are few.

Flowering

In flower

April to June (northern hemisphere)

A late spring flow, filling the gap between the spring bulbs and the summer flowers.

Growing it

Conditions

Part to full shade on moist soil. It tolerates dry shade poorly and damp shade very well.

Size

10-30 cm tall in flower, spreading into mats.

Native range

Europe, North Africa and southwest Asia, in damp woodland, meadow and grassland.

Suits

Small gardens, Large gardens, Containers and window boxes, Meadow or wildflower area

• One of the best flowering ground covers for damp shade, where good bee plants are scarce.
• Spreads by runners; easy to lift and divide, and easy to remove where unwanted.
• Bronze-leaved cultivars flower just as well as the green species and are more useful in a border.

What it looks like

A low creeping perennial with glossy dark green or bronze leaves spreading by runners, carrying short upright spikes of deep blue two-lipped flowers.