Update for June 2011

Hi , things where all abuzz this month and there was excitement at the plot .  Flowers are out every where and the crops are growing well despite the very low rain fall.  Of course once Wimbledon started so did the weather. So here are some pics for June.

The Limnanthes or Poached Egg plant is now flowering all down the borders where it self seeded last year and doing its job well as a pollinator attractant.


One of my all time favourites is the Pyrethrum especially this deep shade with the contrasting centre.


A similar shade but different Style is Knautia macedonica. I love the airy feel of the plant and the way the flowers dance. The bumble bees love it too.


The Bumblers Also like The Comfrey flowers. I have quite a strip of this now and cut it in rotation for making concentrated plant food and layering in the compost heap as an activator.  This bee has actually chewed a hole through the side of the flower to get to the nectar.  Just as well i have the Russian clumping comfrey and don't depend on seed for next year but this behaviour will also give access to insects with shorter tongues than this bee.


While transferring some comfrey to the compost heap I was lucky to catch sight of something quite unusual. Not so much rare exactly but all the same seldom seen

Mr Mole! I guess he wouldn't be here if there wasn't plenty of worms.

Also providing food for the insects, but this time in the form of pollen are these gorgeous Oriental poppies.


Seemingly of more interest to flies than bees are my three or four clumps of Ox-eye daisy.

And as for the excitement I mentioned....The beekeeping course has now finished , i enjoyed it so much an learn a collossal amount, but, just as I had resigned myself to  a winter of slow construction and, due to poor local availability,the dim possibility of obtaining some bees next year i got a call. Cue frantic activity and a new page to record it .

July Flora Update 2010

July, the corn flowers I sowed earlier are now out and prooving popular with butterflies and other insects.  The colour of this "Blue diadem" strain is superb.

Also flowering now are the Acrolininium.  The centers seem to stay yellow untill pollinated then turn brown.  Those ones won't look so good dried but I should be able to save some seed this year.

As an experiment earlier this year I sowed Crimson Clover as a ground cover / green manure  on areas that would not be planted out till later or not at all.  This included the courgette / pumpkin patch and between the legumes and brassicas.  Around the squash I kept a foot clear all round as they grew, they seemed to benefit from the extra nitrogen fixed by the Clover.  In retrospect I would cut the clover to (or close to ) ground level once the main flowering was over as most of my squash developed powdery mildew much earlier than usual due to the decreased air-flow around them.  This did not affect the peas and the clover choked out most of the weeds that would have otherwise grown between / under the rows.  The brassicas also seemed to benefit from the nitrogen.  Aparently cabbage white butterflies look for green plants on a brown background so the ground cover plan seemed effective as a disguise compared to my neighbours decimated sprouts.

Another area flowering well and looking good is the bit of border beside the green house.  The Achillia (Summer Berries) i planted last year is now flowering well and mixing to good effect with Ox Eye Daisy, Knautia and Cosmos.  Is proving a bit of a nectar bar for the insects.

Update for June 2010

June , bustin out in flowers all over....

Californian Poppy...

Ox eye daisy....

& Pyrethrum.