The wonders of willow and my plans for guerilla gardening

One of my regular dog walks takes me along a farm track that runs between two wheat fields for about 3/4 of a mile before reaching a fairly intensively managed hay meadow nestled between buildings and a small wooded area. 

white dead nettle

As Spud, Lola, Rosie and I traversed the wheat field at the weekend I was amazed to hear a subtle buzzing off to my left; it was a sunny day but I still didn't expect to meet a bumble bee in the middle of such a pollen-free monoculture.  I kept a close eye on the narrow grass verge after that and spotted a few dead-nettles and some speedwell but nothing that I imagined would attract such a big fat bee, until that was, I had crossed the hay meadow and rounded the wood.
All of a sudden I was hit by a wall of sound, a bustling choir of humming, droning,whirring wings, bees of all shapes, sizes and designs feasting on a willow tree.

willow in full flower

Now I have never thought of the willow as a wild flower, but mine eyes have been opened.  When few other plants are blooming, this little tree is a valuable source of nectar for insects just out of hibernation; and when the willow finishes, there will be may blossom, brambles, dog roses and a whole field of cultivated peas to nourish them. 
After the peas have finished flowering though, I suspect there might be a bit of a lull in the pollen supply for these busy buzzy creatures.  The hay meadow is kept well fed so as to maximise yield, weeds will have been eliminated from the surrounding crops, and most of the land that cannot be ploughed has turned to scrub.  Solution........I must turn guerilla and start sowing wild flower seeds wherever there is a chance the plants will survive. 

My mission, in my own small way, will be to bring wild flowers back to survive side by side with intensive farming.  I have 4 main challenges; lack of rainfall (can't change that and sadly it rules out any thoughts on using Meadowmat), the farmer, my husband, does not believe in flower power (fine, if he doesn't help me, I won't cook his tea or wash his clothes), there is a thriving community of rabbits who may well consume the fruits of my labour and ditto for the roe deer.
At EcoBuild, I finally got to have a good chat with Nick Mann of Habitat Aid who sold me a packet of "Meadow Anywhere" wild flower seeds.  These are my secret weapons.  Wish me luck.

A brilliant book about bringing bees into the garden



 Back in January, I bought myself a copy of Jan Miller-Kelin's book, Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and other benficial insects.  My first thoughts, were that this would be a valuable resource to learn more about the way that all 34 of the plant species in Meadowmat would interact to help support pollinating insects and indeed other creatures. Here's the link to my blogpost at the time. http://meadowmat.blogspot.com/2012/01/gardening-for-butterflies-bees-and.html



I'm happy to say that the book is amazing and I could certainly recommend it to professional garden designers as well as to interested amateur gardeners like myself. 

Here's an extract from the book, see what you think

There are a few rules of thumb in attracting butterflies into the garden:-

1. Butterflies are attracted foremost by sight, so home in on large clumps of the same flower.
2. They seem to prefer purples, deep pinks and sometimes yellow and white, and do not go to deep reds at all
3. They need to feed in warm, sunny places, sheltered from the wind.
4. The individual flowers hould be single; doubles and other fancy cultivars are often ignored.
5. The nectar plants need to be well-watered in times of drought so that enough runny nectar is produced.
6. Provide different laval food plants for different species and,
7. of course, there can't be any spraying of insecticides!

I never realised that butterflies are influenced by colour schemes.  If you'd like to read more, the book is available from http://www.amazon.co.uk/.

Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and other beneficial insects

Today, I recieved in the post a copy of the book "Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and other beneficial insects" by Jan Miller-Klein. 

I've not had time to study it in detail yet, but a quick flick through has left me itching to put aside a whole afternoon to be spent in a comfy chair with a pot of tea, a log fire and a fruit cake, just reading this book and learning so much more about ways to nurture and support the flying minibeasts that are so important to our eco-system.

Jan's book takes us through the four seasons, telling us which butterflies and bees are likely to be active and which plants they need to supply them with nectar and with food for their caterpillars.  I'm not surprised to see that many of the plant species Jan describes are in Meadowmat and how many could be plug-planted into Meadowmat or planted alongside it to make even more valuable habitat. All of the  plants in the book are beautifully photographed and described with sensible advice on how best to cultivate them and what to grow alongside them.

This is a great book for anyone who enjoys (or would like to enjoy) gardening for wildlife