Food for the Soul

Happiness is found in some very humble places.  I feel a sense of enormous happiness walking through my wild flower meadow full of Ragged Robin, wild forget me not, pink, red and white clover and all the grasses that add a different texture and move gently in the wind, changing the mood of the meadow.  Not only are these flowers good for our spiritual wellbeing, they are essential for other species too. 

Flowers growing in my garden this month

I manage my plot without chemicals by using nature to my advantage. I plant a range of flowers, mainly perennial plants, to encourage flying insects and bees.  A friend had an allotment.  All around her were what looked to me, lifeless, unhappy plots with regimented rows of vegetables.   I had just split a lot of my cottage garden plants and we set to work making a nectar bar round her allotment, the idea being it would look like an oasis in a desert to the passing flying insect.  Within a few weeks, the flowers had come out and her plot was buzzing and alive with bees, hoverflies, ladybirds and other parasitic wasps.  People came over to see the spectacle, it was truly amazing.

So what can all these insects do for us?  Hoverflies feed on nectar and will lay their eggs near nectar sources, their young will then feed first on aphids. Ladybirds eat all aphids as do their offspring which look a bit like  multi-legged armadillos. The tiny parasitic wasps lay their eggs directly in the bodies of aphids which parasitises them, turning them into a golden or bronze coloured ball from which the new wasp bursts forth.  The bees pollinate almost everything, without them there would not be much happening.

Bumble bees are such an important part of our ecosystem.  They are pollinators of fruit trees and other plants.  They can fly in colder weather conditions than other bees and without them the world would be a very different place.  Can you imagine having to hand pollinate all the plants in the vegetable patch, the orchard and flower garden?  It would take forever.  We take all our garden friends for granted and the role they play in our lives. 

The bumble bee can sometimes be starved of food by honey bees who feed on simple flowers. Complex flowers such as lavender and snapdragon type flowers offer exclusive dining to bumble bees as they are the only ones able to get their long tongues down to the nectar.

Lastly, flowers are indeed food for the soul.  They cheer up bleak spaces and fill baskets and pots with colour for your eyes to feast on.  So go out and plant flowers.  Plant them between your vegetables for a natural solution to black, green and whitefly. You men, flowers are not just for women, you can enjoy them too. Plant them in your front garden for others to see too, pass on the good feeling to your neighbours and strangers.

Don't forget you can email me on cottagegardenerdromahair@gmail.com with any comments or questions