Wild flowers for remembrance

Speaking as someone who lives next door to the village churchyard, I can be confident, that in Feltwell at least, flowers feature heavily in the way that we remember loved ones.

Bunches of freshly imported colourful hothouse flowers are arranged and rearranged by some of the graves on a weekly basis.  Traditional holly wreathes are lain every Christmas and every November brings a flush of remembrance poppies. Each family has their own way of remembering. Me? Rather than bring cut flowers to a memorial, I prefer to connect memories with the flowers where they're growing.

Bluebells carpet a woodland floor

A bluebell wood, no matter where it is, brings memories of  Nanny Brown flooding back.  As a small (ish) child we would walk across the fields and through the woods to Goose Green where the bluebells carpeted the woodland floor every spring.  Nanny Brown would bring a picnic and we'd enjoy our sandwiches and iced gems before traipsing home with handfuls of sticky stemmed blooms to cram into jam-jars on the kitchen windowsill.

Sweet Williams remind me of Granddad Brown and I always grow them in my own garden as a reminder of the times we spent together in his garden.  Tying wigwams for runner beans and grubbing around in the dirt harvesting new potatoes with my cousins.

Granddad Brown with his first Great Grandson way back in 1988

This spring I have sown a patch of heartsease, the wild pansy, in honour of an amazing gentleman.  We'll call him DW. DW passed away in October aged 93. A good age, no one can say he was taken before his time, and his was a life well lived.

DW, just like Granddad Brown was of a different generation and represented a better time.  A time when young men were taught respect, honour, tolerance and loyalty. They fought for their country, they worked hard to support their families, never even considering any reliance upon the welfare state. They were always well turned out. I never saw DW without his tie fastened just so and his boots polished.

I met DW when I was 30 and he was 70. He was a true countryman. He understood why bees are important and knew where to look for pheasants eggs. The weather held no mysteries for him, neither did the ways of man.  We worked together for 6 winters before ill health kept me at home. I had the healthiest respect for him, and for his "mucker" Percy.

Somehow, heartsease, the Victorian's flower for remembrence seems a more fitting tribute to DW than gaudy chrysanthemums or sellophane wrapped carnations. 

Percy was of a similar age to DW. they had both fought in the Second World War, although not together.  I never heard DW ( or Granddad Brown) mention their wartime experiences but Percy did once, and only once, confide that he had been captured by the Japanese as spent time as a prisoner of war. He considered himself lucky because unlike many of his comrades, Percy had 2 pairs of socks.  One pair protected his feet while they walked and walked and walked.  The other pair saved his life ....... He ate them.  Poppies are for Percy. 

 

Poppies remind me of an old friend who survived a spell as a POW

The Victorians invented their own language using flowers instead of words.  I guess I have done the same....in my own little way.

Plants are one of my favourite ways to remember people, occasions and special places.  Sometimes their scent will bring back a memory (new mown grass takes me back to Bayford Primary School when in summer time the grass beside our classroom window was cut by a tractor and gang mowers), sometimes the colour or the setting will remind me of something (or someone) or other.

I wonder - do plants and flowers help Alzheimer’s patients in the same way?

Meadowmat for Remembrance

If you are thinking of planting some wild flowers in memory of someone or something special, Meadowmat's Passchendaele Poppy Mix is well worth a look.  Not only is it stunningly beautiful and easy to grow, each sale will raise money for the Royal British Legion to help support people like Granddad Brown, DW and Percy.

Discover more about Meadowmat Passchendaele Poppy Mix

Native flowers and grasses for frost-resistant gardening

frozen spider web. frost highlights the wonder of nature

The mood for today has been one of relief.  I love snow and I love how beautiful spiders webs, seed heads and bare branches become when they’re covered in frost, but I also love that the snow has melted and it’s safe to drive to work in my car (instead of by tractor), that I don’t have to waddle down the garden before breakfast to de-frost the chickens’ water and that I can once more get down and dirty to tackle the weeds that escaped my attention in the summer.

I have to say that I’m surprised, given how delicate some of the leaves and flowers look, at how well my mini-meadow has coped with the winter weather.  In fact, I’m quite certain that it’s grown a little under its duvet of snow.  I know for a fact that the “undesirables” in my perennial bed have put on a growth spurt, but I console myself with the knowledge that the bigger they are, the more compost they’ll produce.

For me, most of the pleasure of growing plants that are well adapted to UK weather conditions is in convenience.  I do like the idea of trying to outwit Mother Nature with heated propagators, horticultural fleece, bubble wrap and paraffin heaters; but it’s a bit of a palaver and quite honestly, I’m too old and too busy to faff around.   In Jardin Lambert, things either live independently (within reason)…or they succumb to the rigours of frost, drought, small boys, hungry chickens and other natural phenomena beyond my control.

So, for this spring and summer, I am looking forward to seeing and hearing lots and lots of bees collecting pollen and nectar from the native plants in my mini-meadow and in my flower borders.  Long live wild flowers.

PS for more info on creating a wildflower meadow, take a look at www.meadowmat.com

How building supplies can benefit wildlife

98% of our species rich meadows have disappeared, pollinating insects are fewer and further between and UK biodiversity is in decline so how come I'm bigging up building supplies instead of blaming them for burying our wildlife underneath roads, retail parks, houses and car parks?
Well yes, I do think that builders and even landscapers could be a bit, no a lot, more sympathetic to nature...include green roofs, natural lawns, hedges and SUDS in their developments. But yesterday I saw probably the most wildlife I've seen in a long while, all crammed into an area that was once a gravel pit supplying Suffolk with aggregates.

I took a ride out to Lackford Lakes near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, it's currently run by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, it's free to visit and it's home to vast numbers of dragonflies and wild flowers.  It's not easy to see wild creatures when you're accompanied by a boisterous seven year old boy with a voice like a foghorn but at least the wildflowers weren't able to take flight when they heard him approaching.

We spotted several different species and Justin loved running from plant to plant checking for snails (what IS it with small boys and snails?) and the caterpillars of cinnabar moths that were munching their way through the ragwort population.

So this once barren site that was ravaged by the aggregate industry has been returned to Mother nature and she's loving it.  I wonder, if it had never been turned into a gravel pit, would this still be an intensively farmed field with minimal interest for wildlife.  So maybe, just for once, the building industry has done Nature a favour.
http://www.meadowmat.com/

Insects seem to like my wild flower meadow

It's been a busy week at work, what with the run up to our "Gardening for Wildlife" workshop on the 12th July, the day-long workshop itself, which thankfully coincided with the only rain-free day we've had for ages and went down really well (thanks to everyone who came along and made the day so enjoyable) and then the inevitable de-brief with managers and directors. 

a living green roof - a great way to support pollinating insects
without taking up space in the garden

I have to confess to being a bit stressed about the presentation on green roofing that I was asked to give and I did re-write it several times in the evenings preceding the event. By far the best place to gather my thoughts has been out of doors in my garden, usually late in the evening, so I couldn't see how the rain has ravaged the borders and I've been amazed at how many critters there are out and about after dark.

I'm sure that this year there are more bats than usual and more moths too - or maybe it's just that I've taken the time to notice them.

I must confess that temporarily being unable to drive, weed, paint, clean or read (much) because of a problem with my neck, I have taken a lot more notice of the world around me.  For example, the wild flowers on road verges are much easier to spot from a car window if I'm not trying to point a vehicle in the right direction, as are birds of prey hovering above cornfields and the occasional small furry disappearing into a gully.

Snail on meadow plant - any help identifying the species gratefully received

In the garden I've spotted a few more critters than I would normally.....on sunday morning, I found a HUGE brown hawker dragonfly perching on  one of the grasses in my meadowmat patch, although goodness only knows why, I'm nowhere near any large bodies of water and as Charlie grandson calls my little pond a puddle, I don't suppose that's attracted dragonflies.  There are wolf spiders running around in the dense foliage at the bottom of the meadow, some snails, ladybirds of course and whenever the sun comes out, lots and lots of bees of all shapes and sizes.  Charlie and I spotted an enormous bumble bee on sunday that was so hairy that he insisted it was a cat (oh to be 18 months old). 

Mullein moth caterpillar.  Isn't he handsome!

Sadly, not many butterflies yet.  I'm hoping that's just because of the dreary weather and that next week, next month, even next year, I'll be innundated with "flying flowers".  I did find a very colourful caterpiller on a self-seeded verbascum plant.  According to my book it's a mullein moth and is considered a pest.  Ah well, there's only one of him and when he grows up there's every chance he'll be a meal for one of my visiting bats.

Good old Mother Nature

Number 14 in Angela's top 20 wild flowers: red campion

red campion grown from seed

At last! The small area of wild flowers that I started from seed this time last year has produced its first bloom.  The most beautiful red campion I've ever seen. Red campion of course, also features in the seed mix for Meadowmat and there is definitely a campion-esque plant running up to flower in my Meadowmat patch...but it may turn out to be white or bladder campion.

The latin name for red campion is Silene dioica.  Apparantly it's named after Silenus, the merry drunken woodland god from greek mythology.  He's a merry fatman with a horse's tail who when captured by mortals can reveal important secrets.  The second part of the plant name is dioica, which means "two houses" and refers to the fact that each red campion plant has flowers of only one sex - in other words, you need at least two plants to make seed.  Good job I've got plenty then!

According to my Readers Digest book of wild flowers, this little beauty will flower right through to October....perfect then for supplying pollen and nectar to the bees and butterflies that I hope will visit my garden IF the sun ever comes out.

red campion hanging its head in the rain

red campion growing wild in woodland somewhere in North Norfolk

Wild Flower Meadow in May

Wild Flower Meadow in May

cowslips in the wild

May is the month when the countryside really starts to prepare itself for summer. In the traditionally managed meadow not far from my home, cowslips are braving the rain and merrily blooming in the hope that the sun will come out for long enough for bees to pollinate them. The grass is thriving in this weather and is beginning to grow strongly and it won't be long before the cow parsley explodes into fluffy white flowers beneath the trees.

In my garden, Dandelions are putting on a defiant show in the lawn and because it's been too wet to get the hoe out, there are red and white dead-nettles flowering beneath the fruit bushes...not that I mind, they're great bee food.

My own little wild flower patches are thriving too.  The Meadowmat patch is now 1 year old and looks very different to when it was first installed.  There are undoubtedly more flowering plants and more species than last year, the grass is less rampant..probably thanks to the yellow rattle in the seed mix and I am estimating that the campion will be in flower in about a week's time...the buds are swelling nicely but I'm not sure if this is a white campion, a red campion or a bladder campion.  All 3 are in the seedmix so I'm playing a waiting game.

campion and plantain almost flowering

There'll be no more mowing in my meadow until at least the end of July.

The area I sowed from seed is less biodiverse but the plants are bigger...probably because it hasn't been mown over the winter.  It looks as though I can expect flowers from yarrow, plantain, campion, scarlet pimpernel and some self-sown dandelions.

I have to confess that I haven't taken a look at the seeds I sneaked onto my farmer-husband's uncultivated land.  All being well I'll be able to check on them over the weekend.  I also have some heartease seeds to sow - I'll probably waft them about when he's not looking.  Interesting development on the farmer front.......he's growing peas this year and remarked that there couldn't possibly be enough bees to pollinate every pea flower on his field......all the more reason to encourage bees with wild flowers says I....with the situation as it is your crops might not be yielding their your full potential.  That pricked his ears up.  Pollinators don't interest him, by profits do!

World Cancer Research Fund Wild Flower Appeal

This summer, the World Cancer Research Fund are asking people to give to their wild flower appeal in memory of loved ones to help raise money for cancer prevention.

To take part, simply click on this link, and name one of the wild flowers in the picture.  I've donated in memory of Nanny Brown.  As far as I know she didn't suffer from cancer, but she did lose her son-in-law (uncle Den) to the illness and she was the one who taught me to appreciate wild flowers.

To thank you for your support, WCRF UK will send you a free packet of Heartsease seeds

sowing wild flower seeds

wild flowers, food for bees and butterflies

This week I have been a little bit cheeky, and whether or not I will get away with it remains to be seen. At the end of march, Q Lawns exhibited at the Ecobuild show in London and I managed to escape the stand long enough to have a good chinwag with Nick Mann from Habitat Aid who is of a similar mindset to myself in that we both want to see more gardeners, and indeed farmers, creating and conserving wildlife habitat.  Nick sold me a little packet of "Meadow Anywhere" seeds for a very reasonable price.

Now if it were for my garden, I would use Meadowmat any day of the week, but I have a special plan for Nick's seeds and it involves a teeny bit of sculduggery.  Meadowmat just wouldn't be subtle enough for this.

My husband is a farmer, and, in common with many of the farmers in this area, regards wild flowers as weeds that compete with his crops for light, water and nutrients.  I can see his point, but being born under the star sign Libra, I like to think there's a way of finding a balance.

nutrient poor soil in a sunny spot..ideal for wild flowers

Around some of the corn storage sheds are areas where the soil and chalk banks have been dug away to improve access and where potentially, wild flowers could grow completely undisturbed by farming activity.  Conversely, they won't affect crops apart from helping to support pollinating insects in the area......can you see how I'm thinking? 

There is no water supply to the area, and anyhow, we're about to be hit by a hosepipe ban, so Meadowmat just won't do, but I think I can get Nick's seeds to grow here...doesn't matter if it takes 2 or 3 years for them to get really well established....I can wait.  So, armed with a packet of seeds and a promise from Carol on BBC Breakfast that it will rain here tomorrow, I have spread my wild flower seeds. I haven't prepared a seed bed...Mother Nature never does so I know I can expect germination to be erratic; Now all I need to do is wait.

I suppose technically, I am now a Guerilla Gardener...not something I would normally advocate, but in this case, I can placate the farmer with Lasagne and Apple Pie...not everyone has that luxury so please be careful about planting things on someone else's land and I can't stress enough that guerilla plants or seeds should be from native stock.

Angela's top 20 wild flowers; Number 19 is Meadow Saxifrage

I don't know quite why Meadow Saxifrage, or Saxifragia granula is all the way down at number 19, it really deserves to be in the top five of my favourite wild flowers, along with all the other 37 species I like so much.

Saxifragia granulata growing in Enviromat sedum matting

Meadow Saxifrage is on the favourites list because it's just the prettiest, delicate-looking but resiliant little plants to flower early in the year and it always marks the arrival of springtime on the Enviromat field.  

The family name Saxifrage means "stone breaking" because these plants are happy on poor, stony ground in exposed places which in turn, makes them really well suited to green roofing.

Flowering from April - June, these beauties are a source of nectar for butterflies and bees coming out of hibernation.  They're just exquisite!

Angela's top 20 wild flowers; Number 20 is Ribwort Plantain

As a child, I used to love going for walks with my Grandmother, Nanny Brown, who would encourage me to take note of what was growing beside the footpath and in the woods. As I grew up,  I became distracted by homework, ponies, Young Farmers, weddings, children, etc and wild flowers were pushed to the back of my mind. But since Q Lawns launched Meadowmat last spring, I've revived my interest in wild flowers and I've enjoyed re-learning their names, finding flowers that didn't grow in the hedgerows around Brickendon and of course remembering how simple life was back then. 

It's been soooo difficult putting together a top twenty chart of my favourite wild flowers and there are lots and lots of runners up.  But here goes.

Number 20: Ribwort Plantain





plaintain viewed from above - not so plain after all!

This is one plant that I've only really noticed in the past 6 months.  It seems pretty unremarkable really.  It's not showy, or fragrant or outstanding in any way. In the lawn, it's an undesirable; it doesn't have much nectar but the seedheads remain for most of the winter and are eaten by sparrows and dunnock. BUT there are a number of moth caterpillars that rely on plantains for food.

Why do I like plantains?  well,  my daughter has two baby tortoises to care for, they're too young to hibernate and they need fresh foliage all through the winter. Rhonda and Hermione are not allowed "Supermarket greens" because apparently they don't have the right balance of nutrients and so I have become hunter gatherer for a couple of reptiles.  Ribwort plantain and Yarrow are just about the only wild plants on the "safe for tortoises to eat" list that are easy to find in January, hence, they are both in the top twenty.

Plantains remind me of a certain kind of person, there's one in nearly every organisation.  Whatever the occasion they'll be there, but they're rarely noticed and even more rarely appreciated for what they have to offer.  Another elderly relative had a favourite saying "squeaky gate gets the oil" meaning those who make the most noise get the most attention, but the quiet, nay seemingly insignificant ones, could well be the most useful

It's wonderful to see wild flowers in winter



winter heliotrope taken 13th january 2012


Outside the office at Q Lawns, sits a sample of MeadowMat waiting to be collected by our salesman.  It's freezing out there, the vegetation is white with frost, yet bobbing about above the leaves are two blooms, one is ragged robin, the other yarrow.  It's so unexpected to see wild flowers in winter, these two are a real joy to behold.

I've not been down to the Meadowmat production field lately, but Robert Allen, our Production Manager tells me it looks amazing with the frost on it.  He says I can probably get some amazing photographs if I get up early in the morning when it's still freezing hard.  Hmmmmmm, I like the idea of some frosty photos, but getting up early?  It's just not me.....

I did manage to snap some lovely wild flowers while I was walking the dogs at the weekend.  I had no idea what they were and had never seen them in flower before.  Lucky for me, Nick Coslett from Palmstead Nurseries, Paul Addison from Q Lawns and Harriet Holland on Twitter were able to identify the plant for me.

I always assumed from the leaves that they are coltsfoot but in fact they're a cousin of coltsfoot called Winter Heliotrope or Petasites fragrans. Apparantly the plant was introduced to England as an ornamental in 1806, it's actually a nativ of the central mediterranean; is quite invasive, flowers from Nov - Feb, spreads via underground rhizomes and the flowers smell a bit like vanilla.  I'm afraid I can't verify the scent....I didn't fancy scrambling over the barbed wire fence just for a sniff!

ragged robin

yarrow

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

wild flowers in november, mowing meadowmat and my big wildlife garden

yarrow and ragged robin pictured in mid november

This amazing picture was taken by our Sales Office Manager only last week!

All this colour and diversity in the middle of November.  Amazing!

Debs took the picture on the Meadowmat production field.  Admittedly, we have sneaked some annual wild flower species (cornflowers and poppies) in here for extra colour but doesn't that ragged robin look stunning?

Lenny, who's long legged good looks only serve to enhance
the beauty of these native wild flowers

Also looking stunning, is Lenny who ought to be a supermodel - even if he does say so himself!

Mow, Mow, Mow your Meadow
Traditional wild flower meadows - including the one featured in this blog - are grazed at this time of year.  Grazing keeps the grasses nice and short so that they're not competing with the flowering plants for light.  It also scuffs up the ground, creating bare patches where flower seeds can germinate. 
My little patch of MeadowMat is too small to support a cow and although I'm tempted to let Jennifer and Jemima (my two buff orpington chickens) have a scratch around on there, I'm worried that they'll scoff any seeds that are trying to germinate.  So, the next best thing is my trusty Hayter Harrier.  This afternoon, once the sun had dried up all the dew, I ran the mower over my Meadowmat with the blades set as high as possible.  All the clippings were despatched to the compost heap.  My "meadow" looks much neater now and I'm confident I haven't damaged any of the flowering plants - they all sit quite close to the ground.  In fact, now that the grass is shorter, I can see a couple of species I haven't noticed before - hurrah! 
My Big Wildlife Garden
Installing Meadowmat in my garden has really inspired me to do more for wildlife.  I've signed up to the Big Wildlife Garden Competition being run by the Wildlife Trusts and the RHS.  Hopefully I'll be able to pick up some hints and make some new friends.   Check out Angela's patch at bigwildlifegarden.org.uk

new wild flower pictures taken late october/early november

Walking out on the MeadowMat production fields yesterday (1st November) I was flabberghasted to see so much colour so late in the year.  Note to self; bribe the Production Manager with cake to find out how he does it and then get him to help me advise folks on the best possible management regime for wild flower meadows.

oxeye daisy

ragged robin - looking windswept

lesser trefoil

yarrow

common toadflax

Native Species from Different Millenia

Last week we took MeadowMat, Enviromat and our Q Lawns' turf to the Creating Landscapes show at Capel Manor College near Enfield to inspire landscapers and designers to include more lawns, more green roofs and more wild flowers in their projects.


oxeye daisy and sorrel look fab with
ancient bog oak stepping stones



The most difficult thing about these shows is knowing how to make a stand more exciting, more eyecatching and more informative than the neighbouring stands and so this time, I asked garden designer Maxine Tricker to help with ideas and I am so so glad she said yes.

ragged robin looks amazing against
a background of bog oak

Maxine used Meadowmat and wild flowers alongside our BogOak to create a show-stopping display.  Inspirational and the most ironic thing about it, is that BogOak was the original English wild wood.  These trees were living in East Anglia at the same time as Stonehenge was being built - fabulous!


Meadowmat at creating landscapes show -
a bit squashed from the journey