Wonders of winter aconites

Val enjoys the bee-friendly charms of these winter bloomers

- Val Bourne

EARLY flowers not only lift our spirits – they’re vital for early flying pollinators as well. Lots of our native bumblebees and solitary bees hibernate in winter with little or no food. Once the days are a bit longer and the sun a little warmer, these bees emerge and need sustenance straight away. They look for nectar-rich plants because this sugar-loaded substance gives them energy for flight. Once a nest site has been acquired, the bees begin to collect protein-rich pollen, needed for reproduction.

I grow lots of early flowers, and every year I watch to see which one comes first. In sunny winters, it can be small-flowered crocuses. All crocuses trap the warm air inside their goblet of petals, so the temperature inside the flower is generally 2-3ºC warmer than outside. The extra heat stimulates the corolla tube, in the neck of the flower, to open wider and this allows long-tongued pollinators to suck up the nectar. White and purple varieties have been found to warm up more than yellow crocuses, according to Pat Willmer’s scholarly book Pollination and Floral Ecology.