A look back to when the meadow was started

This is the piece of Field as we bought it in the Autumn of 2003  the following Spring I killed of all the grass removed all dead grass raked raked and raked again breaking up the top inch into a fine tilth Then  re-sowed it with Wild Flowers.

This is how it looked by July 2004 the centre of the field was mainly annuals but the sides where sown with both annuals and perennials.I must admit I didn't have a clue whether or not I was doing it correctly and really had to learn as I went along not at all like growing a regular garden

 I soon realised that if I wanted to see what was growing in the meadow I would have to cut paths as once walked through the flowers were flattened.  I made winding paths with the mower . the second year the winding paths were large figures of eight .this has now evolved into two wide sides with 3 islands in the centre

One of my Honeybees 

Corn Marigolds and Camomile

 I bought most of the seeds as single choices rather than mixtures .No grasses were included as I thought these would re-introduce themselves In hindsight I should have sown fewer Wild Carrot and Plantain although each year different flowers are prominent. Some Plants are very slow to germinate and finally come into flower .Last year saw the first 3 or 4 orchids this year there are two varieties and about 12 or more individual sights where they are growing .Also Harebells made their first appearance in 2010.
This year additional plant plugs were added but the flowers will no doubt take a few more years to show themselves