Making a mini wildflower meadow

Last year there was a wild area in the local park planted with wild flowers. By the end of May there was lovely, colourful display of poppies, marigolds, cornflowers etc. The first of June arrived and so did the park maintenance man with a heavy duty strimmer and a motor mower.

You can probably guess the rest.

No Mow May around here only led to Can’t Be Arsed August and beyond until November due to the council being too broke to keep on top of all the communal green areas, and maintain the equipment.

Then came the frantic hacking back of shrubs…..

Gorgeous picture * Churchview* . Because we don’t get too much rain here the grass is looking pretty dire just now, especially as we have a blue spruce hanging over part of it. I love the wildflowers, here is one we saw on a recent holiday to the west.

No Mow May and what I’ve dubbed Just Leave It June if I can stand it - although it can be a slog to cut the long grass afterwards.

I was dismayed at the lack of insects last year - the Buddleia was devoid of butterflies. However I’ve already seen quite a few Peacocks and Small Blues around so I am a hopeful of a better year.

Yellow flowering shrubs have seems especially floriferous this spring: Forsythia, Kerria and Mahonia that was alive with bees.

The blue cornflower and purple allium are now out providing nectar for them.

I’m growing my usual annuals: nigella (love in a mist), several varieties of poppy and sunflowers - all loved by insects … and cosmos which, like sunflower seedheads, attracts flocks of goldfinches in autumn.