A quick recap
My recent post Wild things for gardeners, bee beautiful set a challenge for 30 Days Wild.
30 Days Wild is The Wildlife Trusts’ annual challenge where they ask everyone to do one wild thing a day throughout the month of June.
More details can be found here https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/30dayswild
I was sure we could do that!
As a passionate gardener who gardens for wildlife, and all important pollinators, I was raring to get involved.
In addition, I thought it would be fun to be wild every day for a month.
My wild week one of 30 Days Wild
On June 1st I met with a dear friend, the Cosmos Queen, and supplied some plants I grew from seed for pollinators. Bishops Children dahlias and OxEye Daisy. I also found some violet carnations I had grown from seed so a batch of these went off to their new home too. All these plants are wonderful for helping the pollinators.
Additionally, we had a lovely time catching up, watching the bees, and talking about gardening and nature. Clearly, we managed to talk about cosmos and dahlias too!
Wild day two of 30 Days Wild
Onto 2nd June of 30 Days Wild. As arranged, I had a lovely picnic with my family in my garden. Firstly, we toured the garden looking at all the new flowers blooming since their last visit.
Next came a visit to Favolosa my beautiful greenhouse to check on the tomatoes. Finally, it was time for the picnic.
Naturally, the picnic was shared with my cats and my chickens, so it became a bit of a bun fight. Much fun and laughter was had.
Some alcohol appeared as well and who were we to say no. Cheers!
Next came the chocolate cake. The chickens had to go back into their run for a while as chocolate is poisonous for them. However, the cake was soon finished and out they shot with some cross clucking. They do not like missing out on anything clearly!
Onto Wild day three of 30 Days Wild
Moving on to 3rd June of 30 Days Wild. I spent some time listening to the bees. There are hundreds on my poached egg flowers and comfrey. Quite a remarkable sight.
In addition to these flowers, I also have hundreds of alliums in flower. Another favourite for the bees and other pollinators.
Initially, I started with allium Purple Sensation a few years ago. In recent years I have added several more varieties.
In addition to the usual purple alliums, I have added some white ones this year. Mount Everest is looking lovely at the moment. Also new and flowering beautifully are Nigrum and Siculum, amongst many others. Another new favourite is Summer Drummer. A spectacular tall variety, heading towards six feet tall!
I am looking forward to seeing Summer Drummer in flower and am sure this one will make it onto a future blog post. Several photographs are sure to be taken.
Last to flower is usually Sphaeroceplalon. A pretty small headed allium, loved by the bees in my garden in July and August.
I purchase my alliums from Sarah Raven and Thompson and Morgan. All have been great quality and have grown well in my garden. If you wish to purchase some, see below for the links.
Click here for Sarah Raven allium options
Click here for Thompson and Morgan allium options
This blog is an affiliate member of Sarah Raven and Thompson and Morgan. If you purchase using the links above, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
All in all, a lovely day in the garden.
Day four of wildness
Because I planned to watch the sunrise as well as the sunset, I set the alarm super early. I was hoping to see stag beetles in flight in the evening. Normally I watch the sunset whilst waiting for my chickens to go for a snooze, but I rarely see a sunrise at this time of year.
As a result of my early morning alarm, I got to see the sunrise. Besides, the dawn chorus, my girls were fairly vocal too. Usually, they do not get to see me quite so early when their automatic pop hole door rises at 0445.
Overall, quite a noisy sunrise. My girls thought they should come out of their run and start the companion gardening with me.
After explaining that it was really too early to start gardening, I sloped off and went back to bed for an hour or two.
Plenty of time for gardening later, as I often spend all day in the garden and do not normally finish watering pots until about 9pm at this time of year.
Unfortunately, no stag beetles in flight at sunset but sure they will be seen in my garden soon.
Racing along to wild day five
Moving on to June 5th. To begin with, I had planned to listen to the birds whilst gardening. However, I found that to really pay attention to the sounds, I needed to stop gardening and sit down to really concentrate on the birdsong.
Besides the noisy collared doves, I heard a woodpecker drumming. In addition, some lively blackbirds, a few robins and some noisy starlings fighting over the bird feeders.
Whilst I did indeed focus on listening to the birds, the highlight of the day happened in the early evening.
Observing the sky at about 8pm I was lucky enough to see three stag beetles in flight. They circled around the garden and one of them landed on the grass. Out came the camera and a photo was taken. See above.
Besides the flying males, I spotted two females in the grass. Adult males can be seen flying upright with their wings out behind them in search of mates. Whereas the females are rarely seen in flight.
Amazingly, the larvae can take up to six years to develop before they pupate and turn into adults. Sadly, the adults have a much shorter lifespan.
Adults emerge in May with the sole purpose of mating and die in August once the eggs have been laid in some decaying wood.
In order to attract the stag beetles, we have buried rotting tree stumps in the garden. An area we christened, Stumpy End.
Clearly, the stag beetles are happy with the area, and we are lucky enough to have more than thirty adult stag beetles in the garden every year.
Wild day six
6th June was not a good day, so wildness was put on hold. My beautiful chicken, Lovely Speckledy Hen, passed away.
We buried her in the garden, and I did not notice the wildlife or the flowers today.
Absolutely heartbreaking to lose a dearly loved pet. Of course, she will be loved and remembered forever. I was comforted by all the lovely messages I received.
Also, some gardening the following day, hands in the soil, brought comfort. Emotional wellbeing gets such a boost when we are in the garden and connecting with nature.
My chickens are all rescue hens, and I thoroughly recommend adopting some if you can. Primarily, they deserve a lovely retirement and a loving home.
Secondly, they become a much-loved part of the family and provide endless entertainment. Watching them enjoy their first dust bath in a border or having a sunbathe on the lawn is so special and absolutely heartwarming to watch.
If you wish to find out more about adopting these lovely hens, check out https://www.bhwt.org.uk/hen-adoption/
Final wild day of the week
Finally, the last day of week one of 30 Days Wild. 7th June.
Today I spent time smelling my flowers. I have several beautiful, scented roses, a favourite being Gertrude Jekyll which has a lovely smell.
As a result of some direct sowing last year, I have a large amount of hesperis in my flower borders. This flower has a beautiful scent, especially in the evening.
Besides the fabulous smell, the flowers look beautiful in the day, and even better towards sunset.
Finally, I rubbed some mint leaves and lemon balm and had a smell. Delicious!
Lemon balm’s highly aromatic qualities make it a good insect repellent. This is a perennial herb that I grow in the garden to help attract bees. However, I am always having to keep it in check as it spreads around rather freely. The flowers produce seeds so I cut them back before they set seed if I can.
Whereas , the mint grows through underground runners so I keep these in pots. Lovely for flavouring new potatoes but really needs to be kept under control or the underground runners gear up for a sprint! New stems with their own roots grow from the rhizome. This allows the mint plant to sprint away and spread, with new stems appearing from the ground some distance from the initial plant.
As a result of all this tendency to spread quickly, the pot seems to be the best option to keep it in check.
And here is week two of wildness. 30 Days Wild, week two of the challenge
Do let me know what you have been doing in your wild weeks.
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