Tuesday 13 May 2014

The plight of the bumblebee



Late last autumn I had two banks of meadow turf laid.


They thrived during the wet winter and have started to flower.

Here's what is in it:



Sheep's Fescue, Red Fescue, Quaking Grass, Meadow Barley, Agrimony, 


Bird's Foot Trefoil, Red Clover, Common Sorrell, White Deadnettle, Fox and Cubs, 


Meadow Cranesbill, Greater Celandine, Autumn Hawkbit, Common Knapweed, 


Common Mallow, Wild Marjoram, Meadow Buttercup, Meadowsweet, Great Mullein,


 Musk Mallow, Opium Poppy, Ragged Robin, Red Campion, Tansy, Teasel, 


Common Toadflax,Viper's Bugloss, White Campion, Wild Basil, Wild Carrot, Clary, 


Wild Thyme, Yarrow, Black Medick,Common Daisy, Welsh Poppy, 


Small Scabious, Maiden Pink, Chicory.

All are rich in pollen and nectar and winter food for birds.

Just typing that list of lovely names makes me feel better,
but the thing is - it seems awfully quiet there.
I've seen 1 Red Admiral,1 Cabbage White,1 Orange Tip, 1 Solitary bee
1 Damsel fly, a few hoverflies
and not a single honey bee.

Let's hope word gets round soon.



12 comments:

  1. I'm sure word will spread quickly. That looks so lovely. What a good idea. The bees will be delighted

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  2. What a wonderful selection of wild flowers I am sure you will get lots of visitors eventually.

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  3. Even if the honeybees prefer some of the garden flowers, this amazing selection of wild flowers will surely make a wide variety of other insects happy!

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  4. How I love the names of the plants you have listed. Wonderful. Been a cracking year here for orange tip butterflies and also for Brimstones. The blossom has been exceptional on all our trees, but no honey bees.

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  5. It's only a matter of time.

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  6. Lucille, just reading those flowers' names has cheered me up. I expect that you will be seeing some bees and butterflies before long. Isn't it interesting to think of how they actually do detect that you've set up a wonderful buffet for them?

    This post of yours and some others I've been seeing in the past few weeks have definitely fed my country dreams. I know that my urban apartment life is denying me some wonderful times. Thank you for the inspiration.

    xo

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  7. How beautiful- to read and to see! I do hope the bees arrive soon. We see quite a few here in the south of France but apparantly the greatest problems are further north.

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  8. Plant it, and they will come...... have faith.

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  9. I wish you'd been with us on our walk today. There were lots of wild flowers, many with names that I used to know but have now forgotten. We took some photos and will look them up but it would have been easier if you'd just come along and told us.

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  10. I love that list. It makes me quite teary-eyed with happiness to read it. Someone should turn it into a song.

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  11. You are a good citizen, Lucille. And a botanist to boot!

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  12. Good for you! The names of the plants are so poetic.

    We call wild carrot "Queen Anne's Lace" here in the U.S., which you likely already knew. I love how royal it sounds when it is a weed that grows along all the country lanes. Even so, it makes a sweet bouquet!

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