2014 new summer meadow

Many of you will have noticed a recent splash of colour adorning Redland Green on the slope behind St Oswald's Road. The perennial meadow is the culmination of a long term effort by RGCG and Bristol City Council (BCC) to improve the visual and wildlife amenity of the Green. In a survey carried out by BCC with the help of RGCG, a wildflower meadow received strong support from the local community. The meadow was in part inspired by a joint BCC and Bristol University study of wild flowers in improving insect populations in urban areas:

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/biology/research/ecological/community/pollinators/initiative/

For the keen botanists, the meadow has been sown with a perennial mix, which includes wild flowers such as knapweed, ox-eye daisy, yarrow and yellow rattle:

http://wildseed.co.uk/mixtures/view/26

but as many of these will not flower in the first year, this was supplemented with an annual mix, which includes flowers such as the common poppy, corn marigold and corn cockle:

http://wildseed.co.uk/mixtures/view/1

We hope that the success of this year's bloom will be equalled or bettered next year, and with the help of some judicious weeding by volunteers, will continue to provide pleasure to all visitors to the Green, human and insect.

John Tarlton