August is a very busy month here at Phoenix Court and I have very much had to let my tubs do their own thing, with the occasional bit of watering from me during dry periods. I now find that each time I go out to my garden patch there are often three bees or so buzzing around the plants, which is a lovely stage to get to. The absolute star performers in bee attraction are the sea hollies and the hebe. The sea holly shown in the video was planted last year and is looking much healthier than the one I planted in a large tub this year. But both are popular with bees.
Other things that are also of interest are flowers on the herbs such as golden marjoram and mint.
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| Flowering mint |
Still no butterflies showing an interest in the buddleia. In fact I haven't seen any butterflies around here this summer other than a loan cabbage white fluttering at the front of Phoenix Court.
To add some late colour and further interest to bees, I yesterday planted some Autumn flowering bulbs - Colchicum Autumnale Album and Conqueror crocus. These should flower in the next few weeks. Obviously still at risk from slugs but the egg shells appear to be working on a poppy, which is starting to flourish again.
