No Mow May?

This week feels as though summer has arrived with its hot, dry weather. The reminder it's still Spring is the tree pollen! I couldn't resist a few photos of the flowers in bloom at the moment. With the start of no mow May it's worth being a bit more flexible with the dates, this year's early Spring has meant leaving wilder spots earlier for earlier emerging insects and nesting birds. 

(If you can't cope with an entire lawn of unkempt grass, try leaving longer areas under trees or mow lots of paths. Or just plant some insect friendly flowers in your borders or pots.)

Spring Sunshine!

The return of longer and drier days has seen plenty of jobs to catch up on in the garden, from cleaning out the birdbaths and bird feeders to clearing the vast amount of sticks fallen from nearby trees, deposited during winter storms and mowing the lawn back into some kind of shape. (I always check to see if a frost is due overnight and don't cut if it is.) The return of blossom, daisies, dandelions, early flowers like wallflower, rosemary, wood violet, primrose and pulmonaria is good news for bees and insects. Look out for butterflies like brimstone and skipper emerging from hibernation.

To catch up on the wildlife in the garden follow my YouTube channel here.

Spring blossom and daffodils flowering in the garden at the moment.

 

Summer in the garden, everything flowering all at the same time...

 

A quick update on some of the flowers in the garden this summer. A few might seem to be weeds to some, but I find them to be useful as pollinator foods and very pretty as well. (A lawn with white clover smells gorgeous and is good for common blue butterflies and bees.) I admit, due to the very wet spring, the bindweed is ferocious this year but autumn pulling and digging will get it back under control for next year and for now, the white flowers are appealing. The very wet Spring seems to have triggered a profusion of flowers with everything flowering all at the same time... these are some that caught my eye today.

Self-Heal (butterflies and bees)

Snapdragon (bumblebees)

Crocosmia (pollinating insects)

Valerian (all insects plus moths like the hummingbird hawkmoth)

Bindweed (pollinating insects)

Buddleia (pollinating insects, in particular moths and butterflies)

white clover (bumble bees, common blue butterfly)

lawn flowers!

roses (good for this human!)

fox and cubs (bees)

Love in a mist seed heads (for next years' garden!)

Buddleia 

Chicory (bees)

Sweet William (bees)

Cornflower (pollinating insects)

Calendula (pollinating insects)

Spring green and gold in the garden

 

kerria

wallflower

hardy geranium, rose, (behind rose) knapweed, phlox, lungwort and small daffs (flowering now over) getting ready for summer

pulmonaria (lungwort)

birdbox and bluetit (taken from indoors hence the blurry image)

new leaves on the little tree

rosemary in full flower

tulips 

new leaves for the elephant ears (bergenia)

grass seed beginning to grow on new lawn area

 

Fresh for Spring, find art cards, small gifts and household decor in my Etsy shop now.

New pack of four handcrafted cards based on my pastel sketches of tulips.
Blank inside for your own personal messages. 

The Gardener's Pocket - A great way to say thank you or send your love to your
garden-loving friends, family.

Pretty mini flower mandala, hand-stitched onto paper, perfect for brightening up desks
or bedrooms for a moment of mindfulness in your busy day.

Trees, Seeds and Crochet

As lockdown eases and the temperature rises it has been lovely to get out & about over the Easter holidays. It is that moment in the year when the trees burst into leaf and bird song and I have spotted my first swallows of the year.

As usual, several windowsills have been full of seed trays, mainly flowers this year and now the days are warm but the nights cold, it is that seasonal dance of bringing trays in and outdoors as they start to harden off and grow on. 

The pasque flowers have survived the frosts  and I'm delighted to find lots of self seeding flowers in the garden, feverfew, ox eye daisies, pansies and a few foxgloves, natures own patchwork. What we need now are milder nights with some rain to help with the outdoor seed planting.

Pasque flowers

Quantock Hills, mini tree and sheep.

Beautiful tree shadows at Glastonbury Abbey in the Spring sunshine.

Mini Granny Squares patchwork crochet in cotton.