Flutterby Patch

Queen Anne's Lace

During May and June the English countryside effervesces with clouds of Queen Anne's lace; it's everywhere.

Such a wonderfully descriptive name!



 Hundreds of dainty flowers make up each flower head.

Without fail every year I tell myself I'd like to grow it in our garden. But its a prolific spreader and I know it would quickly take over. So each year I resist the temptation to scatter a few seeds.

Recently I found this magazine illustrating pretty pink varieties and of course had to buy it in order to read more. Needless to say I found temptation on every page.

For example.....imagine living in this country cottage fronted by a wild flower meadow awash with Queen Anne's lace. Wouldn't it be wonderful?

We'll never have our own wild flower meadow but do have a small patch of lawn that is left to grow a bit wild.

We have a sprawling sort of lawn that is fairly damp and gets cut throughout the season. About 15 years ago we discovered a couple of wild orchids growing there and they are slowly spreading. And so we now delay mowing the orchid area until they have died down in August. The longer grass on the right is where they grow and it is here that we have decided to create our 'little meadow'.

Here is one of the orchids, a 'heath spotted'.
 

In one of my garden books is this picture of a lovely 'managed' meadow that is part wild and part mown and that seems to me to be the perfect solution. A mown area for walking on and a pretty wild flower meadow area for bees and other insects to enjoy.

And so I have bought some seeds (English meadow mix) which I will scatter in the orchid area later in the season. Of course my little meadow won't look anything like the picture on the packet, nor will it resemble the beautifully managed meadow pictured in the book, but it will be fun to see what grows there and of course insects will love it. The seed mix doesn't contain any Queen Anne's lace which is perhaps just as well because it would probably take over.

I'll report back next year with a progress report!!

Until next time,
Eli

Thinking of bees

Yes, I know it's a bit late to be showing you pictures of apple blossom but it makes the prettiest picture. And just think of all those ripe rosy apples that will be ready for picking in late summer.

In spring our little orchard is always alive with the sound of busy bees working their way from flower to flower, but there could be troubled times ahead.

Honey bees around the world are suffering from a deadly virus that is eliminating thousands of colonies with the result that in some places fruit blossom is not getting fully pollinated. The worry is that if these busy little insects continue to disappear there could soon be an enormous shortage of fruit and veg worldwide.

Wild bumble bees do an excellent job pollinating our fruit blossom but when warm spring weather suddenly turns chill (which it frequently does in Britain) these fluffy little creatures become tired and lethargic and seem to give up the will to live. If a warm day suddenly turns cold and the sun disappears behind clouds I know I will find at least one solitary bumble bee sitting motionless on the driveway. Touch him and he won't fly away but simply raises his legs as if to say "keep away, I'm cold and tired"...... This is when I know it's time for action!

I put a pinch of sugar in a teaspoon.

Then I pour on 2 or 3 drops of warm water and mix well with my finger until all the grains of sugar are dissolved. (As an alternative to sugar you can use a tiny amount of honey)

Then its back to the sleepy bee with the restorative mixture. Just one drop placed right under his nose and the sweet smell attracts him immediately and he will sup it for several minutes.

Then, with his energy restored, he'll walk a short distance to get his bearings and fly straight back to work on his favourite flowers.

My dad, who was an amateur beekeeper, showed me how to help bees in this way when I was a child and I've always done it. Its my little way of repaying the tiny creatures that do so much for us.

Where would we be without them?

Until next time,
Eli

 

Golden garden days

Greetings friends. I thought I would give you all a break from my woolly sheep saga this week and spend a little time with you in our garden as the sun has been shining for almost a week here in the UK...amazing!

We'll start here where an old wrought iron gate takes us into what we rather grandly refer to as 'the rose garden'. We designed this little space 12 years ago and it is now overflowing with plants that we have put in and others that have invited themselves (self seeded).

The roses are not yet in bloom but the forget-me-nots have given us a sea of blue for the past 2 months and as always aquilegias have popped up all around. As you can see it's a bit of a 'free for all' situation with everything jostling for position.

I'm happy to say our sundial keeps accurate time.

Although not easy to see in the bright sunlight, on the ground around the sundial is the little motto 'Be Mindful of Time'.

So let us indeed be mindful of time, leave the rose garden and head for those scarlet poppies across the lawn.

Lovely as they are, they are rather too garish for my tastes but they put in an appearance each year and always add cheerfulness to the grey stone wall behind.

Now these are the poppies of my choice. The colour reminds me of faded Victorian ball gowns. It's such a shame they only last a few days before the petals drop.

More pink beauties...this is clematis 'Nellie Moser' and the blooms grow to the size of plates.

And here's a job for my husband! This solanum has climbed the house wall so quickly this year that it is now peeping in through the upstairs window.

I'm very fond of this vivid pink rock rose (helianthemum). It pops up each year through the lime-yellow leaves of the euonymus and for a few short weeks makes a brilliant splash by the driveway.

At the end of our terrace we have a curved stone wall and seat which was built many decades ago. The land drops away quite steeply on the other side and for this reason my children named this stone feature 'the battlements'. Needless to say the name has stuck. We think it was originally built as a sort of viewing place for the enjoyment of uninterrupted views across the lake. Sadly those days are long gone because the woodland trees opposite our house have since matured and now mask the view which is a great shame.

Growing out of every crack and crevice on the battlements is this delicate little ivy-leaved toadflax

At the end of a sunny day our honeysuckle fills the evening air with its rich perfume. It is the offspring of an older honeysuckle from my dim and distant past that has treasured memories for me.

This tiny black and white photograph shows me with my baby sister many moons ago in my grandmother's garden. Behind us is my granny's honeysuckle that she was very proud of. After my granny died in the 1970s my mother took a cutting from it which happily rooted and eventually grew into a large bush producing many more offspring over the years. It pleases me a lot to know that the honeysuckle I now tend in my garden is a direct descendant from the very one my granny nurtured all those years ago.

And so it is time to leave the garden as the sun goes down on another day.

As the moon rises over the tree tops, twilight slowly descends.

Until next time,
Eli