Things are looking ‘rosy’ for pollinators at Buckland Abbey

Visitors to the National Trust's Buckland Abbey near Plymouth are being rewarded with an explosion of colour and scent as the newly planted rose beds in the Elizabethan Garden start to bloom.

Over 100 new single and semi-double flowered rose plants were planted by the garden team in February. As well as looking and smelling wonderful, these varieties are easily accessible and attractive to pollinators in line with the property’s ambition to make its garden ever more pollinator and nature friendly. They include ‘Tottering By Gently’, ‘Sceptr’d Isle’, ‘Compte De Champagne’ and ‘Scarborough Fair’.

Sam Brown, Senior Gardener at Buckland Abbey, comments ‘There has been a growing focus on planting for pollinators in the recent years to help reverse the steep decline we have seen nationally in our insect population. Where possible we are all being encouraged to set aside less formal areas in our gardens where wildflowers and weeds can thrive, and this is something we even saw echoed at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show where the bug-friendly gardens have inspired additions to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) pollinator-friendly plant list.’

‘For several years now we have been working hard to create a nature and pollinator friendly garden at Buckland with more of the garden and parkland managed to be less formal and more wildlife friendly. However, there are plenty of cultivated garden plants such as these species of rose which can still have huge benefits to our pollinator friends too and we are excited to see more insects such as bumblebees, honeybees and hoverflies working in the formal area of the garden this summer.’

The rose display kicks off the summer colour in the garden at Buckland and looks its best throughout June. Other seasonal highlights include the fruit and vegetable harvest later in the summer and the squash and pumpkin displays later in the autumn.

The garden is open from 10am – 5pm daily. Admission is free for National Trust members; normal admission applies for non-members. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/devon/buckland-abbey