Wild Gardens

Wild flowers look wonderful if you can get the mix right and sowing broadcast from a mixture of seeds is the best way – it is what nature does, after all! Buying a mixture in separate packets is a good way of tailoring the mix to what you like; everyone loves poppies and they are an excellent choice because although they self-seed freely, they only germinate in disturbed soil, so you won’t find them springing up all over the place in established beds. Cornflowers are a welcome splash of blue in summer, when the cooler shades are not so common and of course no wildflower garden would be complete without foxgloves. If you have an area of the garden which is a little difficult to look after, being very sloping or perhaps just out of the way, sowing a wildflower garden is a good plan. It will attract a lot of butterflies and some varieties, such as ornamental thistle, will even attract birds like finches – getting rare in gardens because of the lack of food. A note here to all those who have been feeding the birds through the winter – when the birds have nested and fledglings are beginning to appear (which will be soon) you should stop feeding them large seeds and nuts, as the fledglings can easily die if fed this large food.