Bee Friendly Gardener

07/06/2026

In the garden today

06/06/2026

Gardening on the Other Side of the Fence - no29 (Eastry Village News June 2026)
Having missed an edition, an extremely wet January and February have been followed by an equally dry March and April. The weather gods certainly know how to test the patience of us gardeners.
Frogspawn was laid 3 days earlier than last year with 12 clumps being a new high for this 2021 installed pond. My neighbour had less than usual so it is hard to identify a trend.
Each spring I take a census of the flowering bulbs and I also measure all my young trees. You may have read that young tree saplings are better to plant than more established trees as they settle into their new environment far more readily. This is the first opportunity I have had to test this out.
Two similar Silver Birch ‘Jacquemontii’ were planted in the winter of 2020/1. A house-warming present of a 2.69m specimen is now 4.73m, a 175% increase. But a 1.3m sapling is now 3.44m, a 264% increase. A wilder, native sapling that I collected was 1.47m is now 4.06m, a very similar 276%. But a 70cm Rowan sapling has grown 435% and a 94cm Hawthorn, 342%.
Snakes-head fritillaries started flowering 13 days earlier but despite a wet year, the colony has only increased from 56 to 64 flowers. That is a similar trajectory as in my previous garden. There, 12 corms eventually increased to 282 flowers over 20 years. Unfortunately we learned that those plants ended up in a skip when the new owners redeveloped the front garden where they grew. But it is a plant that takes 5 years to flower from seed so you have to be patient if you want to allow natural growth. Meanwhile, 20 crocus ‘Ruby Giant’ planted in autumn 2021 have already increased to produce 219 flowers. This is all part of increasing the amount of pollen available to early season queen bumblebees who are very keen on both these flowers. Snowdrops benefit smaller bees but daffodils are barely visited by comparison.
In the wildflower meadow, an alteration to the cutting regime around where the cowslips grow seems to have benefitted them with a significant increase in flower spikes. Another meadow gardener has suggested collecting the ripe seeds and planting directly in the ground to speed up their expansion. Elsewhere in the meadow there is a large increase in the number of visible young seedlings of Common Knapweed, Wild Carrot, Salad Burnet and Bird’s-foot Trefoil in addition to some bought plug plants that I added last autumn. In some cases I am literally planting ‘weeds’ that you may well be trying to remove from your lawn ! The burgeoning Yellow Rattle population seems to be having the intended effect, reducing the vigour of the competing grasses in an area that has been well cultivated in the past and would not be the ideal starting point for establishing a meadow. Some growers say it can take 15 years to build a really varied meadow. I should live that long…….

Jeff, the Bee-Friendly Gardener. You can find this and my previous articles on my Bee Friendly Gardener page should you wish to share or comment.

01/05/2026

Camassia quamash opened in today's sunshine.

19/04/2026

Bee-friendly and in bloom now

04/04/2026

In bloom right now

04/04/2026

A Podcast recommendation for whether,or not, you are a member of a Wildlife Trust, RSPB or Woodland Trust. Here, all three chief executives of these 3 organisations are all in one room to discuss the current state of UK conservation.
Trees A Crowd is hosted by actor David Oakes, who is very active in this arena, and is always well worth a listen.

Around a table at the Woodland Trust's headquarters in Grantham, David sits down with three of the most powerful voices in British conservation: Darren Moorcroft, Chief Executive of the Woodland Trust; Craig Bennett OBE, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts; and Beccy Speight, Chief Executive of t...

22/03/2026

In bloom this weekend

20/02/2026

Buff-tailed Bumblebee queen out on crocuses this morning

19/02/2026

Klasea bulgarica. A plant reco from Dave Goulson, the 'bee professor'. First ones available this year have just turned up on ebay for leahurstnurseries (www.treeferns.com). My order arrived yesterday. Several nurseries like Beth Chatto's have them on as waiting status.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMdvqJegTwo&t=39s

One of a series of short videos highlighting some of the best plants for attracting bees and other pollinators. If you'd like more, watch my playlist "Best P...

18/02/2026

One of my first annual census of 2026 - Crocus tomassianus. Planted 50 in autumn 2022. Now has 117 flowering stems.