Wildflower Attempts

Since we are still losing many of our insects at a terrifying rate, and they rely very much on pesticide-free plants, I've had several attempts at establishing a wildflower area in the garden but have so far failed rather miserably. First of all, last autumn I cleared a space of lawn by cutting it low and scarifying it. I sowed it with a seed-for-clay mixture but I had a feeling from the start that it was doomed - and so it was. Not a single wild flower appeared that hadn't been there before. 

So in May this year I bought 50 plugs of mixed wild flowers, cleared a different space of lawn and tried again. By the time I'd planted 30 of the plugs I was exhausted so  I filled a terra cotta pot with mixed compost, sand and grit and I planted  the rest there. The lawn plugs have grown sure enough, but so has the grass and they are a bit inundated so they have leaves  but no flowers. I will strim the lot and hope they reappear next spring. 

Wild flower pot with ragged robin 

                                     

The plugs in the pot have done really well.  Amongst them are a ragged robin, a red clover, some dandeliony things, a vetch and what looks like a thistle. This is probably the only ragged robin in this part of London (they are  becoming hard to find in the wild) but the bees cottoned on  straight away and there's hardly a moment when a bee or hover fly isn't visiting it. I'm hoping these things will seed themselves around for next year. So I call that a small success. 

                 

Carder bee on ragged Robin                                                                         Bee on red clover

I was so heartened by this that a couple of weeks ago I bought 50 more wildflower plugs and planted them in a large plastic barrel. In no time (two weeks) they produced cornflowers and poppy flowers  - the others are still a mystery but there are buds so I'll probably get flowers this year (and an inkling of what they are) giving them a chance to scatter their seeds about. Here's hoping!

Red clover in a pot

                 

                                                                               New barrel of 50 mixed wild flower plugs          

                                 

Here's a list of native wild flowers and plants in the garden this year, not counting the new plugs and in no particular order:

Herb Robert, wild strawberries, buttercups, wood avens,  white clover, self  heal, Welsh poppy, three cornered garlic, alkanet, daisy, Spanish bluebell, bramble, bindweed, comfrey, nettle, foxglove, dock, dog violet, eyebright, forget-me-not, fumitory, toadflax, hawkbit, primrose, wild mallow. 

                                  

            White clover in the grass                                              Self-seeded wild mallow

I've also got an elder tree, which my wildflower guide tells me is a wildflower and since all the advice says that hawthorn can only be a good thing in a nature-friendly garden, I've ordered one hawthorn hedging plant which will go in a small gap by the wall. 

• My wildflower plugs came from Rocket Gardens (rocketgardens.co.uk) who are based in Cornwall, and sell online veg., plug plants, herbs, potted fruits, raised beds and containers all in large or small quantities. Great quality - excellent advice too.