Wild Flowers

Geranium pratense with a bee

My intention  has always been to encourage the smaller wildlife which feeds the larger things and has been disappearing from the countryside for years. This year there are lots of smaller bees and other flying things and I think it is largely because I have been introducing more wild flowers. I counted 26 this morning and I know I have more than that.  Apart from their extreme usefulness, they can also look really good in the garden. 

Geranium pratense

I have picked out five to show this week. First is meadow cranesbill, Geranium pratense (not to be confused with Pelargoniums). I have it growing on the lawn in full sun where it is very happy.

Centaurea nigra

Common knapweed, Centaurea nigra, is in a  large pot on the patio. It is incredibly good for wildlife, a magnet for bees and hoverflies. It's seedheads are an essential food source for seed-eating birds like goldfinches  (though I haven't had any in my garden so far). 

Wild strawberry

Wild strawberry, Fragaria vesca flourishes in bare patches all over the garden, In summer I have a handful to eat every day. They enrich bare patches but are easy to remove where not wanted. 

Yellow rattle cutting down the grass

Yellow rattle, Rhinanthus minor, thrives in gardens. It has yellow tube-like flowers protruding from the calyx. It's serrated leaves grow opposite each other up the stem. Known as nature's lawnmower, it feeds off nearby grasses suppressing their growth by up to 60 per cent. (It is what has made it possible to grow the meadow cranesbill). 

Evening primrose, Oenothera biennis, its four-petaled flowers open in the evening and are visited by a large number of moth species. Flowers from June to September. 

Evening primrose

It is surprising what comes to the pond at night. I can see the frogs during the day, but all sorts of very private birds go there at night. 

Wren on the pond