Best pollinator plants for an allotment

For the last few years I haven't had great crops from my veg and fruit in my allotment and a few of us feel that pollination is the fault.

We always get a lot of bees on our lavender in the garden but what flowers do you all grow that are especially effective at attracting pollinators in your allotments?

 

Strawberries, raspberries, cucumbers, redcurrants mainly John.

 

Hi,

Find that our Rasps and Strawbs are the ones that attract the bees most, so they do not seem to have such pollination problems, unless the weather turns very cold and wet when they come into flower.
Could it be that your other plants like the Lavenders are drawing the bees away from the friuts ?

 

I grow borage, calendula and phacelia to help with pollination. I don’t bother digging in the phacelia as it is pretty!

 

The cucumbers I grow (greenhouse) mustn't be pollinated, so with Telegraph I'm forever removing the male flowers.
As for plants for pollinators Phacelia tanacetifolia, is excellent and self seed around, Verbena bonariensis, red and white clover, calendula work well for me.

 

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated

 

Borage is a very nice one as it's one of the best nectar sources for pollinators and will self seeds. It's also a crop as you can eat the flowers.

We also use comfrey, mostly the creeping kind which is flowering now.

 

Another vote from me for Phacelia. Oregano and chives are also a big hit with pollinators here

 

I don’t grow many vegies, but my neighbour does and he also realised that having veggies only doesn’t work. He started last year to add flowers. From what I see in my garden is that’s the variety that makes it. To have pollinators you need many different plants and places where all kind of animals can stay.
There are so many different bees and each of them likes different plants, but not only bees are pollinators.
I would suggest you look at a website like Chiltern Seeds or similar and go to “wildlife”.
I visited the organic farm in Cirencester last summer on the Open Day” and they don’t care about weeds and mostly wildflowers at all. They led them ramp through the greenhouses. The veggies are also surrounded by companion plants.
I try to learn from them and not to be so tidy.

 

Dill is another good one, as is fennel, which really attracts hoverflies.

Nasturtium also does a good job and can take some pressure from cabbage whites of your brassica's.

 

Thanks everyone.
I'll give some of them a try.,
We have quite a lot of lavender in the garden which many varieties of bees adore so I think I'll add a lavender plant as well.