Nature Blog by Jenny Bourne

Habitats & Heritage held their popular annual Plant Sale for Wildlife yesterday at Kilmorey Mausoluem, where I had an interesting chat with Karen, a Twickenham beekeeper.

The solitary bee posts are giving up their newly emerged occupants – the bees have been emerging from their sandy loam sealed holes over the past couple of weeks. It’s always pleasing to see that the habitats we make for these fascinating and beneficial pollinators are used but there’s more to giving a helping hand to wildlife. Once out of their winter quarters the bees need to feed and that’s where we can really help out, by providing the flowers and flowering trees and shrubs on which they depend.

A perfect morning of warm April sun got us up early to the plot preparing a bed for the peas, when a flash of silver blue fluttered over the newly turned compost– the first Holly Blue of the season, probably just emerged from the nearby holly bush at the end of the site road.

A sudden change in the weather as temperatures shot up last week; from cold, dull and overcast to an increasingly warm sun and clear skies for over a week, bringing on blossom and bringing out the first early butterflies.

An interesting feature in this month’s ‘Gardeners World’ about growing greener veg in your garden, also applicable to our plots: ‘ A productive garden is one where you can enhance, rather than harm, the environment.’ (Gardeners’ World March 2022 BBC). From saving seed to getting water smart, ditching the chemicals and protecting the soil, it’s all helpful advice