I'm all about the seeds here at the moment. Completely out of windowsill space though and still so much to plant. I need a conservatory or something I think. In so far are tomatoes, two or three cucumbers, sugar snap peas, parsnips, Tuscan kale, white cosmos, larkspur, rudbeckia, okra, oca, mustard leaves, lettuce, leeks and sweet peas.
I'm going to try and grow some pollinator friendly flowers here and there. I love having bees about the place, they really add so much to the garden, and of course they're good for the planet too. We got a little poster about the best flowers from the seed swap the other day which I've stuck up in the kitchen. I saw a lovely flower the other day that I have a fancy for but I don't know what it is. It looks like a small pale pink bottle brush on a long stem. Any ideas?
I'd like to grow an aster or two as well. I remember sitting by one last year and it was absolutely covered in bees. I'm thinking maybe pink for that too. In a house full of boys I am woefully lacking in pink. I don't mind really, but I do like pink flowers.
Do you have any garden plans yet this year? Or any suggestions for bee and butterfly friendly flowers? I sometimes imagine my dream garden, or at least a dream garden in the space we have here. It would involve getting rid of most of the patio and the grass I think. More space for plants! Less space for ball games. Bees. Chickens. Of course that won't happen. But that's fine, we can share. Something for everyone.
In my imagination I have a profuse English country flower garden. Meanwhile for the last seven years I have been trying to find plants that will enjoy our peculiar soil and shady location in Boring, OR. I found just the right spot for a Sun Gold cherry tomato plant, with a rosemary and a basil plant nearby last year, and the rosemary plant survived the winter, so I just need to replant the basil and tomato plant in a few months. Bees like lavender, and I want to plant more of that this year, too. I hope you identify your mystery flower and that your gardening efforts are satisfying in every way, CJ xx
ReplyDeleteas i start winding down for the season, it's really exciting to see your new seedlings and little punnets!
ReplyDeleteI too love having bees in the garden - i can recommend larkspurs; they love the purply-blue ones I have about the place, especially the odd plant that struggles thru the winter. I was surprised recently to see a bee very busy in the insignificant white flowers of my basil plant. and my parents have the space for lots of Australian natives like grevilleas, which the bees love (birds too). not sure if you grow grevilleas in your neck of the woods :-)
Your rosemary looks so much like mine. I think my flowers are slightly bluer, maybe it's a soil difference. I don't plant very many seeds outdoors (wind carries them away too easily, in my experience), but I always try to put down some sunflowers and wildflowers. I really need to get them in the ground soon, your post has reminded me. I do have two new lavenders in the front yard, planted last fall, and I'm excited to see what they do. I have had a lot of bees in my previous lavender, so I'm hopeful for these new ones. Oh, I get lots of bees in my primroses (mine is known as showy primrose, and I think it's a different type than I usually see on UK blogs). And Russian sage brings lots of bees too, if you can grow it there.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you are still gardening!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe do a lot of pot gardening here. I want to get some more herbs. I will enjoy watching you and your big garden. I wish we'd do some raised garden beds but they never get made. :-) ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteI love bees too - we usually have a swarm living in one of our sparrow boxes - it's a row of 3 like little terraced houses and the sparrows occupy the end ones and the bees the middle. Neither seems to bother the other. CT has left a list of butterfly friendly flowers on Leanne's blog; it looks like a nice selection. I finally cleaned out the greenhouse yesterday and had a merry morning seed planting - you would have been proud! Have a happy week. xx
ReplyDeleteSeeds being planted here too, although the old man does the veg and I the flowers, with the exception of sunflowers which he's always done :-). Herbs are great for pollinators especially thyme, rosemary, basil and marjoram as are things like cosmos, snap dragons (I love to watch bees going inside the flowers), nicotiana, ox eye daisies, cornflowers, red campion, poached egg plant, chamomile, patio daphne (the painted lady much preferred that to anything else here last summer). The important thing is to check if the seeds have a bee or pollinator friendly stamp on the packet, that way you'll know they haven't been produced with insecticides and do actually contain nectar- you'd be amazed at the number of plants grown today that don't. They've been engineered for colour instead :-(. Hope that helps xx
ReplyDeleteGosh what a wonderful array of seedlings you have! Could the flower you describe be Liatris?
ReplyDeleteWas it sangisorba? I've got a patch, it spreads like mad but looks so pretty. It's all about the seeds here too, I've got a great little lean too greenhouse which holds loads of seedlings, I'm hankering after one I can actually stand in though! :) xxx
ReplyDeleteSeeds are on every surface here too, not sure where they are all going to go. Rhododendrons are good for feeding bees as are the flowers on Rosemary. There are a lot of companies that sell packets of seeds particularly to attract bees and butterflies. RSPB actually do a pack and I also believe Suttons seeds do a pack, check them out on line. Hope that helped.
ReplyDeleteI have no plans for the garden this year. I think it'll go wild. We are having an extension built late summer and I am using this as an excuse. White cosmos for the front garden would be nice though and a pot of basil or two. Must get some seeds. Have a lovely garden weekend. x
ReplyDeleteNew veg beds & more pollinating plants. In fact I've made a conscious effort this year only to buy insect friendly plants. Every little bit helps as they say xx
ReplyDeleteWas it a persicaria? think they are easy to grow although I haven't grown them myself. Love reading your blog even though I usually just linger in the shadows Sue
ReplyDeleteI wondered whether your plant might be Liatris too. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=1150
ReplyDeleteWe also toyed with the idea of removing the lawn, but then thought it is nice for sitting out on and for our little granddaughter. You have been very busy with your seed planting. I think I must get a move on!
Is the plant a persicaria - a perennial? The sound of bees adds so much atmosphere doesn't it? Perennial wise the bees cover our lavender, centaurea and heuchera. Also they love the annualsbed on the plot definitely cosmos and cornflowers
ReplyDeleteHi, your pink flower may be a Bistort (one of the Persicaria family). Seed planting for me this week - finally feels like spring is here. hooray!
ReplyDeleteAll sounds very exciting I cant wait to see the results. I must say I am terrified of bees. As a child I was stung by a wasp and it has meant I bag them all together and hate wasps and bees. I am that silly woman we all see who runs down the road if I see a bee.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day
It's so exciting when seeds start to germinate, isn't it? Plans afoot here for more flowers for cutting and more fruit trees and bushes. I may be repeating comments above but great plants for insects are Tithonia, borage, Verbena bonariensis, lavender, buddleia (butterfly bush...), cosmos, Salvia viridis, Echium (Viper's bugloss). Have a great weekend x
ReplyDeleteLooking good CJ I'm very lazy and do most of my sowing direct at the allotment. I find that by sowing direct in April I catch up very quickly on earlier pot sown and transplanted seedlings. But today I was preparing the ground for transplanting sweet peas and broad beans and the ground is just perfect - crumbly but moist underneath so I may sow a few short rows this weekend. And I have a baby quince tree to plant too. I really like Sarah Raven flower seeds and this year iin addition to the usual suspects of cosmos, cornflower, calendula and Nigella I will be direct sowing lime green zinnia, purple cerinthe and blue borage. I saw a huge bumble bee in my Corsican hellebore this morning. I was pegging out washing and I followed the buzzing.
ReplyDeleteI am planning to plant lots of seeds in the next week. Last weekend I was looking at my seeds packets and was shocked how many I had. Our local florist has Sarah Raven seeds reduced to 50p and I have been buying them over the winter! Most of Sarah's seeds are bee friendly so hopefully I will have lots of bees visiting! Sarah x
ReplyDeleteIt is shaping up to be a wonderful year on your garden for the people and the insects and other animals too! xx
ReplyDeleteHope your garden is soon buzzing with bees! I've got a Pinterest board "For the bees" with bee-friendly plants if that's any help (look up HouseAtNabEnd on Pinterest). We have lots of success with borage, knautia macedonica / scabious, knapweed, vipers bugloss, nasturtiums, geranium phaeum "Black widow", salvias, verbena bonariensis, sedums, asters/Michaelmas daisies, deutzia, bergenias, irises. And at the moment the hellebores are attracting lots of queen buff-tailed bumblebees.
ReplyDeleteThat's brilliant, thanks Helen, I'll have a look. CJ xx
DeleteWhat a great selection of growing things. You had me at cucumber, but 2 or 3 kinds. big smile. Wishing you a lovely garden and harvest, exciting times!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any garden plans yet but this lovely post has reminded me that it is about time I did! I grew Asters last year and they were lovely.
ReplyDeleteA nice post and lovely pictures. You have been busy, and it's all looking good. I haven't sown anything yet.
ReplyDeleteGoogle 'perfect for pollinators' and you'll see an RHS link to a webpage listing lots of pollinator friendly flowers. Enjoy your weekend. Flighty xx
ooh how exciting to have things planted already. I've sown sweet peas and nothing else yet. this weekend it WILL happen x
ReplyDeleteMore than anything else in my garden the bees and butterflies seem to like the purple flowers, and in particular the Nepeta Six Hills Giant, which is an easy joy, but not, of course, pink. Good luck with the seedlings; I am always lost in admiration at your orderliness.
ReplyDeleteLove to see all the preparations for garden planting already. We are still covered in snow. It snowed yesterday and today. It doesn't look like Spring. It's wonderful to see photos of "baby" plants like that tomato. Have a good week!
ReplyDeleteYour allotments is going to be great this year! Happy spring to you!
ReplyDeletehttp://pointylittlesticks.blogspot.com
Ooh, lovely lovely photos, spring is happening in your garden! Like you, my dream garden would be lots of borders and raised beds, seating areas, paths linking it all together. The reality is knackered decking, a massive dandelion-filled lawn and a trampoline. Some stuff might grow if Angus stops kicking the football at all the plants. Xx
ReplyDeleteOoh, lovely lovely photos, spring is happening in your garden! Like you, my dream garden would be lots of borders and raised beds, seating areas, paths linking it all together. The reality is knackered decking, a massive dandelion-filled lawn and a trampoline. Some stuff might grow if Angus stops kicking the football at all the plants. Xx
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that bees like blue flowers and the yellow ones they see as blue too. But they also seem to like the sedum when it's in flower and that is pink. So maybe they're not really fussy! And butterflies love buddleia flowers. Good work with the seeds :-) xx
ReplyDeleteI have planted a few things again this year, hoping the fungus and cut worms of years past will leave me alone! Maybe I can send them off to someone else's house!
ReplyDeleteHugs to you and happy planting,
Meredith
Once again, your photos are amazing! We have a few little pots started in the window sil of our kitchen and hope to add new ones sometime this week. We've had a long winter here and am ready for Spring. With that said, also hoping to return home to England at the end of this summer to live with the family for 6 months or so. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteHi, Really great effort. Everyone must read this article. Thanks for sharing.
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