Wildflower area: Preparing for Spring

Appropriate perhaps for Remembrance Sunday, we spent a couple of hours today strimming and clearing the summer growth from the wildflower area where each year we have managed to provide a show of scarlet poppies.

While most of the wildflowers now are perennials, there are areas where seeds of the cornfield annuals are sown. This ensures that in addition to the poppies we also have the gold of corn marigold and the blue of cornflowers to brighten the view for passers-by. Appropriately, Cornflower are also flowers of remembrance for the French.

Strimming and removing the summer’s growth means that the overwintering clumps of grass do not smother the shoots of our perennial wild flowers and helps maintain a balance of species to benefit as wide a range of wildlife as possible.

There is more still to do, but a good start has been made.