Wild flowers used to be widespread in a community like ours but they’ve largely disappeared and are still in decline. And with them are going all sorts of birds, butterflies and other wildlife that depend on them. Together we could start to bring them back.
Our community-wide Wild Flowers Project started in March 2010 when we invited Charles Flower to talk at one of our monthly events.
Charles is a leading authority on bringing gardens and the countryside back to life by re-establishing wild flowers. Prior to his talk, Charles had already looked round the area and thought it could benefit hugely from the re-introduction of plants like scented violets, primroses and cowslips. They could be planted in our gardens, on roadside banks, in the churchyards and other open spaces - he suggested starting with a few small sites to show what could be done. Since then, there has been a great deal of enthusiastic progress and several members have made significant commitments to establishing wild flower havens on both public and private land.
An exciting start was made in November 2010 when the first batch of young plant plugs arrived from Charles Flower's nursery. These were destined for a high profile community area - the Memorial at the junction of Fullers Road and Baker Street.
On November 25th, 2010 ivy and tree debris was cleared from the bank behind the War Memorial. Wild flowers supplied by Charles Flower were planted here: white scented violet, greater stitchwort, yellow archangel, sweet woodruff, bugle, wood anemones and bluebells, all tough and suitable for the shade under trees. In early October 2011, a team of volunteers again cleared ivy and weeds from the Memorial site to ensure that the wild flowers would not be over-run. We were pleased to note that the wild flowers had taken well and indeed were spreading.
Charles is a leading authority on bringing gardens and the countryside back to life by re-establishing wild flowers. Prior to his talk, Charles had already looked round the area and thought it could benefit hugely from the re-introduction of plants like scented violets, primroses and cowslips. They could be planted in our gardens, on roadside banks, in the churchyards and other open spaces - he suggested starting with a few small sites to show what could be done. Since then, there has been a great deal of enthusiastic progress and several members have made significant commitments to establishing wild flower havens on both public and private land.
An exciting start was made in November 2010 when the first batch of young plant plugs arrived from Charles Flower's nursery. These were destined for a high profile community area - the Memorial at the junction of Fullers Road and Baker Street.
On November 25th, 2010 ivy and tree debris was cleared from the bank behind the War Memorial. Wild flowers supplied by Charles Flower were planted here: white scented violet, greater stitchwort, yellow archangel, sweet woodruff, bugle, wood anemones and bluebells, all tough and suitable for the shade under trees. In early October 2011, a team of volunteers again cleared ivy and weeds from the Memorial site to ensure that the wild flowers would not be over-run. We were pleased to note that the wild flowers had taken well and indeed were spreading.
The next stage of planting was carried out on April 16th 2011. A "nursery bed" was established at the cemetary to hold our stocks of young plants, so that they can be planted out at village locations later in the year.
Myles Milner and Peter Huntley prepared the ground in advance with a rotivator. Steven White helped to fork it
over then later planting, with Emma Oakley, Sara White, Barbara Allen, Bruno Brunskill, Alison Hotz-de Baar and Wendy Murray. There were enough people to get all the plug and pot
plants into the burial ground strip in a short morning session, along with a few
of the seedlings as the rest weren't quite ready. When we move the primroses
etc on to the churchyard there'll be room for grown-on seedlings but they're
fine where they are for a bit.
Spring 2012 is scheduled as a key time for new planting around the village. Teams will be working on new sites on March 16th and April 18th. We also hope to start planting cowslips in public places during this time. Volunteers for planting, weeding and tidying round our wild flower sites are always most welcome. You can get more details from Emma Oakley at Popes Farm - telephone 850202.
Following on from the success of Charles Flower's talk on March 24th 2010, here are some more details and images of the "key species" of wild flowers you might wish to consider planting.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page for more links and information.
Meadow species (full sun)
Birdsfoot trefoil
 Cowslip
 Devilsbit scabious
 Fleabane
 Ladys bedstraw
 Lesser knapweed
 Meadow cranesbill
 Musk mallow
 Tufted vetch
 Wild carrot
| Woodland/woodland edge (shade) Bugle
 Dog violet
 Foxglove
 Greater stitchwort
 Herb robert
 Primrose
 Red campion
 Sweet woodruff
 White violet
 Yellow archangel
 |