Bee Friendly Wildflowers

14/06/2026

13/06/2026

Today we donated 769 large plants, plugs and seedlings to Wild About Lothersdale (WAL). They will be potting out hundreds of melancholy thistles, great burnett, viper bugloss, cowslips, globe flowers, knapweed, meadow cranesbill and ox-eye daisies.
https://www.lothersdaleparishcouncil.gov.uk/wild-about-lothersdale/.
Thank you so much to one of our customers who donated the 40 large melancholy thistles which we have passed on to WAL.
Tomorrow we will be at Gresgarth Hall again – do come and see us and our plants and help us be able to donate more plants to local wildflower projects.

11/06/2026

Come and see us at our new stall at Arnside Country Market tomorrow morning 9-12am. Not only will there be lots of native wildflowers, but the other stalls have homemade cakes and pies! What more could you want on a rainy summer day? And it's free entry.

10/06/2026

One of our customers sent this to us this week. They have made a beautiful display of red campion, daisies and viper bugloss, with some teasel just starting to get big in a corner of their garden, from plugs put in last year. We're really pleased that so much has grown as it is in an area shaded by a very thirsty silver birch.

09/06/2026

Oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) is a native perennial and the largest member of the daisy family. It flowers from late May to September, to a height of around 20 to 75cm. Its small yellow centre is a myriad of small flowers and its nectar attracts butterflies such as the Painted Lady. To find out about how to grow this flower in your garden or pots, and why it is called Oxeye daisy go to our blog: https://beefriendlywildflowers.co.uk/oxeye-daisy-leucanthemum-vulgare-ox-eye-days-eye/

07/06/2026

Since last autumn we have been growing some globeflowers (Trollius europaeus) from seeds provided by Community Pollinator Patches(CPP).
This native upland species is a member of the buttercup family and flowers from May to July, producing large bright lemon-yellow, globe-shaped flowers on top of tall, slender stems. The flowers are unusual in that they have tightly-closed sepals that encase the true petals and are rarely fully open.
We kept the seed trays outside to ensure they became hardy but interchanged a variety of covers to protect them from the birds/frost/intense heat. We have watered or drained them depending on what our erratic weather system threw at us.
We are pleased to say we have now handed back approximately 270 seedlings and the CPP volunteers have potted them up ready for local projects.

03/06/2026

How many bees can you fit on one melancholy thistle?

01/06/2026

June is early summer, and your wildlife garden is alive to the sound of parenting duties. Young hedgehogs are being born, and, in the pond, tadpoles are turning into adult frogs. Birds may already be starting their second brood and bats can be seen swooping around the house at dusk to feed.
If you had noticed an increase in the insects and birds in your garden during No Mow May why not continue helping nature with “Let it Bloom, June”? To find out how you can help your garden please go to: https://beefriendlywildflowers.co.uk/go-wild-in-your-garden-in-june/

27/05/2026

Wild red clover (Trifolium pratense) and white clover (Trifolium repens) are both native perennials, flowering over spring/summer. Valuable for pollinators including the common carder bee, honeybee and red-tailed bumblebee, they are also an important companion plant for anyone growing vegetables. For more detail on clovers, their preferred growing sites, their uses and the rarity of 4 leaf clovers, see our blog here: https://beefriendlywildflowers.co.uk/blog/

26/05/2026

Thank you to everyone who came to see us at Arnside car boot yesterday. Ragged robin was very popular but we do have some more in stock if anyone missed out. To the lady who was trying to remember a plant that began with Bee - the only native one I know is Bee Orchid. I found that there is also Bee Balm and Bee Plant but they are not native to the UK.