HELLO

Welcome to the blog of my Wild Flower Meadow for 2015.
A bit late starting this year due to nasty persistent virus that was so difficult to eradicate.
Sadly this may be the last year I may be keeping a blog for my meadow . The house and acre of land will be going on the market in the not too distant future . The new owners may put the land back to grazing or development who knows .
I sincerely hope not.
I hope it will be as loved and nurtured as It has been since I started it in 2006
In the mean time I will endeavour to keep the blog up to date with lots of pictures showing how the plants and wildlife play out in 2015 .I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I do producing it.
Please pop back from time to time to see the new additions and feel free to add any comments

Wednesday, 6 July 2011

New additions for July 6th

Smooth Hawksbeard Crepis capillaris
Hedge Bedstraw (Galium mollugo)

Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium)

Ladies Bedstraw (galium verum)

Scentless Feverfew (Tanacetum corymbosum)

Sneezewort - Achillea ptarmica

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis,alba

Wild Carrot (Daucus Carota)2

Yarrow Achillea millefoliumdd 


Corncockle (Agrostemma githago)

Tuesday, 5 July 2011

More new additions for July

Orange Hawkweed Pilosella aurantiaca

Lesser Knapweed Centaurea nigra
Great Hairy Willow Herb Epilobium hirsutum
Spear Thistle Cirsium vulgare)

How the meadow looks at the moment

 This is how the meadow is looking at the moment.a little lacking in colour ,but a new flush of colour due soon .I will have to cut the islands shortly . new plug plants to plant for 2012 .I have bought the seeds from Nickies nursery on line . I have not bought from there before but the packet of Bloody Cranesbill was a nice large packet very reasonable price and very good germination . I will just have to see how the other packets perform
2nd of July Meadow before its cut

Monday, 4 July 2011

Getting Bolder

 The Goldfinches are now getting quite cheeky 10 waited on the hedge for me to leave so they could eat their supper

Friday, 1 July 2011

The Start of Flowers for July

The Ox Eye Daisies are now starting to fade and already the gold finches are moving in to feast on the seed heads. Unfortunately I can't get a picture of these they fly away before I can get close enough. 



Common chicory, Cichorium intybus,

 Hedge Cranesbill (Geranium spp)

 Scentless Feverfew (Tanacetum corymbosum)

Thursday, 30 June 2011

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