A sliver of success

It was a beautiful evening yesterday and so I went out to take a picture of the sea.  As I passed this geranium plant I noticed a bee buzzing around all the flowers and enjoying the plant and the sunshine.  It's really the first one I have seen so far as the weather has been so dire, but this at least shows that things I have planted are of interest.

On clearing out an area at the front of our guest house, I discovered some daisies flowering quite happily.  Obviously the old idiom is correct that a weed is a plant in the wrong place.  Because I took up a few with their roots and planted them in my little attempted wildflower garden.  At first they looked as if they were thinking - we didn't say we wanted to move,  but now after the sunny evening and some rain today they look much happier, so I hope they do settle in.  I also transplanted a couple of clover cuttings to another pot in the hope that they might grow.  Fingers crossed!

Wildflower Area

This is another piece of optimistic gardening!  Today, in the beautiful sunshine that Scarborough has been experiencing, I have finally managed to start a small area that is going to become a wildflower garden.

It is made from three of the trays that our breakfast mushrooms are delivered in.  I have put a base in with holes and then covered the base with small stones.  Around the exposed edges I have put moss and then potting compost in the middle.  As it's now too late to plant true wildflower seeds I have bought one poppy, and also some marigolds and pansies.  From experience one poppy is enough as it will produce seeds to create more plants next year.  Marigolds attract butterflies, and can also deter unwanted aphids.  Pansies are loved by bees and butterflies.  Marigold and pansy seeds were included in a pack of seeds to attract birds and butterflies in our local garden centre.

My cornflower seedlings are still coming through but taking their time.  If they succeed then some of them can be transplanted into this area.

A further bug b&b

Bamboo cane bug home

As a follow up from my last post,  I now have the tied up bamboo canes in place and here's a picture on a lovely sunny day in Scarborough.

I have decided to put it by the sea thrift and also the sea holly, which you can just about see here.  But as this is starting to grow a couple of lovely thistles then it might just be a good place.

Today I have seen a hoverfly buzzing around a hebe I recently moved to the wildlife garden and also around the sea thrift underneath the cane bundle.  It's only a start but does mean that the flowers are of interest and they are getting noticed.

Cornflower Seedlings

I have started to see the cornflower seeds coming through.  Not very dramatic as yet, but obviously going the right way.  There should be some to move into the wild flower patch I am creating.

Poorly hebe

I moved a small and struggling hebe to the wildlife garden area earlier this week.  At the front it was being bombarded by wind and also not getting much sun.  So I cut it right back to the new growth that was fighting its way through and moved it to the back of the guest house, where there is more sun all day.  It looks slightly pathetic at the moment but obviously now has a chance to grow to its potential.  Here's how it looks now.  Hopefully in a few weeks it will look much better and will start to flower.

Wildlife homes

Well the weather is still fighting against me and I am sure everything must be later than last year.  However, all things planted are still alive, and some are thriving.  The cornflower seeds planted at the end of May are starting to show and I am  in the process of planning a small wildflower garden area.  More on this later.

For now, I have created two trial wildlife homes as suggested in http://www.wildonwight.co.uk/doyourbit.

The first is about 20 pieces of bamboo cane cut to roughly 15cm long and tied together with string.  I can't quite decide where to site it yet, so no picture in situ, but it will hopefully attract the attention of some insects when put in a permanent home.  This will most likely be from the railings of our car park near some of the plants that should attract the insects in the first place.

The second one, which has proved rather difficult to photograph is an upturned drinks bottle, with rolled up corrugated cardboard inside.  I have put it behind a bench to protect it from the worst of the weather.  Despite some heavy showers and thunder storms the cardboard inside is still dry.  This is placed near my buddleia, herbs, cornflower and lavender.  So again these plants will attract the insects that will hopefully wish to explore this home.

Fingers crossed!

Chelsea Inspired

Well the sun's out, I've been watching the Chelsea Flower Show all week and also got some inspiration from Grows on You.  Hence a further bit of planting has taken place.  This is Golden Marjoram, which has been suggested to me as another beneficial herb for butterflies and bees.  It adds to the other herbs to make a slightly bigger herb section.

Alongside this I have planted some cornflower seeds.  Nothing to see there as yet, but hopefully a lovely bright blue flower to attract insects of all types.

My most optimistic bit of planting is a buddleia.

This has been suggested by one of our guests and somebody on Grows on You.  It seems to be fairly hardy to coastal weather and wind, also it appears to be able to grow out of walls and other strange places so hopefully a large tub in sunlight will be OK.

Fingers crossed!

Bumble Bee Friendly

After watching a programme about the Chelsea Flower Show last night I found out about the Bee Kind campaign running by the Bumblebee Conservation Society.  You can list the plants in your garden on the site and you get a score for the bee friendliness of your garden.  We scored 837.  I struggled with the type of garden.  This is a good score for a window box (500 average) but poor for a small garden (2500 average).  I can't work out whether we are more a window box or a tiny, evolving garden.  Anyway, its a start.

I have recently also started using a site called Grows on You.  This is a good way of listing plants that you are growing and also asking queries from other gardeners. I posted a question about coast hardy bee and butterfly friendly plants and got loads of interesting and useful suggestions.  So that will give me something to work on over the next few weeks.

Progress in May

Well, it's been a while since the weather has been good enough to check the progress of planting.  Or at least take any pictures.  Today is windy but there is a lovely blue sky and sun.

Nasturtium seeds planted in March

Things are continuing to grow and progress to a state where they might attract any brave wildlife that wishes to venture out.

Firstly, the nasturtium seeds are doing well.  These were planted in March.  Elsewhere in other borders some seeds planted in April are starting to show.  I did wonder whether they had been drowned by all the rain, but they are hardy little plants and are now pushing through.

The herbs I planted are surviving the winds well and the chive plant is looking particularly healthy, producing flowers, which are the things that will attract insects.

Sea thrift planted this year.

Sea thrift plants are popular with bees and are also particularly hardy in harsh coastal conditions.  As mentioned before in this blog, one survived well last year and so I planted a few more.  These are all producing flowers and brightening up the flower beds.

Sea thrift planted last year

Meanwhile, I have also found out that Rutland Terrace is one of about 5 major sea gull nesting sites in Scarborough - aren't we lucky!  They are nesting on the roof, dropping moss out the front of Phoenix Court and generally making themselves at home.  And, of course, they managed to take out the television aerial again yesterday.