Wildflower wonder

From planting to harvesting......the wildflower meadow has been a tale of hard work and success. From a battle with the existing grass and a brush cutter way back in September, through much raking, seeding, planting (50+ volunteers!), we faced a winter of watching and waiting and the glorious springtime arrival of a wide variety of healthy-looking plants.

We then got going with preparation and seeding of a second area in May. The second sowing coincided with some poorly-timed very dry weather, and wheelbarrows and watering-cans came out to help keep the baby seedlings alive - and it worked!

In July Amie Cook helped us identify what had grown, and we found: corncockle, wild carrot, yarrow, red bartsia, yellow vetch, knapweed, corn marigolds, creeping buttercup, yellow rattle, dyers chamomile and poppies among the cornflowers and ox-eye daisies.  We learned how to harvest and spread the seed and saw how the perennials were already starting to grow again.

The second patch is still in beautiful flower.  Do go and have a look.

Next comes a little seed collection and sowing, and the council will be along to mow as part of their Bristol-wide cut-and-collect pilot scheme. Most of the seed will fall and re-grow in the meadow area, so we look forward to another wonderful wildflower meadow and increasing numbers of helpful pollinators next year.

Thanks to all the volunteers who have taken part in making the meadow. Now we can all help look after it!

The wildflower meadow location in the park