My Wild-life Garden Chapter 32: May 13th

I know it is only four days since the last chapter, but they have been four days of sun, and some beautiful flowers have appeared. The old rhyme about April flowers bringing forth May flowers seems to have worked here. They will all be fairly prolific as the summer progresses and I suppose they might be called weeds in some contexts.

The Welsh Poppy (Meconopsis cambrica) is the largest of them, a paler yellow than dandelions, and with a form and confidence that would befit a cultivated plant. But these just turn up, particularly where there is a wall or a crack in paving.

Welsh Poppy

The Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) seeds so readily that I pull a lot out. But plenty remains. I love the pink flowers, with darker veins, and the typical Cranesbill seed-pods. I brought my original plant back from the Lake District.

Herb Robert

The meadow area is increasingly being colonised by speedwell. I guess these are Common Field Speedwell (Veronica persica), described in my flower book as “an alien weed of cultivation, first recorded 1825”. Ah well. It looks nice.

Speedwell

Also in the meadow a Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis) has come up. It likes damp places and I have seen it flourishing over several square yards in other spots. Here it hangs on. It is also known as Ladies Smock.

Cuckooflower

When the garden was first set up my father-in-law brought a small plant of Lords and Ladies (Arum maculatum) from the old ditch that bordered his garden. I stuck it behind the hedge, and it has grown and grown. Look at it now. In late summer every spike will be a wand of scarlet berries.

Lords and Ladies

Followers of this blog will already know about the success of our little bee-house. Well, yesterday I saw not just the mud-plugged holes, but an adult Mason Bee. It is some sort of Osmia, but my insect book says “there are many similar species”.

Mason Bee

This blog is nearing its end; one year was the idea. I would love to think that you were encouraged to try wild-life gardening too. We have been lucky to have so much ground. I think it is fair to call it “medium sized”. Here is a map that I made when the garden was the site of a U3A visit.

The Wild-life Garden