That is a very good and moving lecture. Flowers can grow almost anywhere. On areas of waste ground in towns and cities, beside railway tracks, along roadsides. Every country has hundreds and hundreds of miles of roads. It would be amazing to see all these roads verged by healthy pesticide-free flowers!
Even allowing some 'weeds' to grow in a garden will help. Tonight I visited a woman in the village, and as she showed me round her huge garden, she apologised for areas where weeds hadn't been trimmed away, although her garden looked lovely! All these provide flowers. Some were already in flower. That lovely sweet-scented Meadowsweet with frothy white flowers (which is also a good medicinal herb). I did say to her "But the bees will appreciate them."
However I have noticed that any 'fancy' flowers which I plant wil be eaten by something. I would plant an area of Pinks, or Begonia....etc and overnight they will all be eaten. I even saw that rose buds and new rose shoots had been eaten away by something very quickly and very cleanly, (overnight) leaving no evidence of what had done it. But those native species which we often call 'weeds' don't suffer such attacks. The Tea Rose is eaten, but the Dog Rose (native) isn't!
I really like your new Bee Mat Catherine! It is beautiful.
Even allowing some 'weeds' to grow in a garden will help. Tonight I visited a woman in the village, and as she showed me round her huge garden, she apologised for areas where weeds hadn't been trimmed away, although her garden looked lovely! All these provide flowers. Some were already in flower. That lovely sweet-scented Meadowsweet with frothy white flowers (which is also a good medicinal herb). I did say to her "But the bees will appreciate them."
However I have noticed that any 'fancy' flowers which I plant wil be eaten by something. I would plant an area of Pinks, or Begonia....etc and overnight they will all be eaten. I even saw that rose buds and new rose shoots had been eaten away by something very quickly and very cleanly, (overnight) leaving no evidence of what had done it. But those native species which we often call 'weeds' don't suffer such attacks. The Tea Rose is eaten, but the Dog Rose (native) isn't!
I really like your new Bee Mat Catherine! It is beautiful.
