At last the Bluebells are blooming in our garden. They were already here when we bought our house and spread themselves around as they like. Our house sits on land which is a mix of old farmland and woodland so I’m guessing these plants have grown here a while. The Bluebells are a mix of our native dark blue Bluebells and Spanish Bluebells which have paler blue flowers and pink blooms too. If you’d like to see the difference click the Bluebell on the left.
It’s the 28th February and my seed giveaway has come to an end.
Thank you very much for joining in with my quest to add wildlife friendly plants to your garden or allotment.
Did you know that British wild flowers are in danger of extinction? In the past 70 years we have lost 97% of our wild flower meadows. This loss has changed the look of the British countryside… it’s still green but not half as colourful as it used to be!
The bad news is that losing most of our wild flower meadows has also affected our insects, birds and small mammals. They need pollen, nectar, seeds and leaves to provide them with food and shelter. Without the wild flowers some of our beautiful wild insects and tiny creatures simply can’t survive. And that affects everything.
As usual I have grown lots of flowers from seed this year. Well… if you are a keen gardener you can never have too many plants can you? I have grown all sorts. Some perennials, hardy annuals and half hardy annuals. Amongst them were some beautiful wild flowers such as Foxgloves and Ox eye Daisies and they have all been lovely.
There are many British native plants in my garden and in the lanes nearby that I could have selected for Wildflower Wednesday but this week this is the plant that stood out for me.
I’ve been picking some wild flowers from our garden, driveway and hedgerow. The patch of Nipplewort with tiny yellow flowers I mentioned yesterday and a beautiful plume of seed heads on some grasses inspired me to gather a bunch of wild flowers and grasses together.
There’s a patch of tall yellow wild flowers under the oak tree in my Spring Garden. My Dad would call them weeds.
I think they are Lapsana communis… commonly known as Nipplewort and once used as a herbal remedy for breast ulcers.
I’ve just spotted a patch of fresh young seedlings in a patch of bare earth.
Ox Eye Dasies. Woo Hoo! The earth is still lovely and moist and easy to work so I am digging up a clump. Suddenly spring 2015 doesn’t seem so far away after all.
Did you know that British wild flowers are in danger of extinction? In the past 70 years we have lost 97% of our wild flower meadows. This loss has changed the look of the British countryside… it’s still green but not half as colourful as it used to be!
I’ve had a request for larger photos so here they are…
Here’s a gallery of the shots that made up yesterdays post about the annual wild flower patch. Just click on the first photo to open the gallery. I hope you approve!
The annual wild flowers are still in flower. The patch has changed a great deal since I last took photos in September. There’s a much more mellow look with lots of straw coloured stalks and seed heads. Today it has been quite dull and overcast with just an occasional glimpse of the sun and yet…