All things bright and bee-utiful!
Ilove this time of year when colour, fragrance and texture spread in rapid, joyful waves across the garden. It’s impossible to step outside without being wrapped in the scent of sweet peas. I’ve never had such a bounty of these intoxicating blooms, which I tie into bunches to display in glasses at home and give to friends and neighbours. All of my autumn reorganisation and planting has given great results. The hot border ‘Flaming Parrot’ tulips have been dazzling and the orange and yellow calendula, salvias ‘Royal Bumble’ and ‘Hot Lips’, geum ‘Mrs J. Bradshaw’ plus crimson and golden poppies all shine brightly against the plum of the copper beech hedge, berberis and heuchera ‘Palace Purple’. I think heuchera ‘Paprika’, the swathes of Welsh poppy and the vivid lime of feverfew refresh and lift the strong palette – and it’s buzzing with bees all the time, which I love! I’m really appreciating my decision to have different borders with different blocks of colour. Although there are a few self-seeded imposters (which I move to cherish elsewhere), each area has a distinctly different feel to it. The blue, white and yellow area has a calming effect with its delphiniums, perennial cornflower and pansies. The pink, white and purple border has had a stunning display of delphinium ‘Dark Blue Black Bee’ (ours is definitely purple!) while lupins, with red valerian, geraniums and aquilegia blend to make a charming cottage garden border. In contrast, the white border at the back is subtle and gentle with several pyracantha, flowering prolifically, foaming alyssum, tulips and pansies, all uplifting in warm white against the foliage of the privet and laurel.
I was delighted by the types and number of insects to our beautifully blooming pyracanthas. I was amazed to see wasps, moths, hoverflies, lacewings, three kinds of fly and five different kinds of bee! What a wonderful plant to support wildlife.
My love of bees, along with it being Her Majesty’s Jubilee year, inspired me to self-publish a children’s rhyming story called ‘Jubilee Bee’. The book includes brief notes on the importance of looking after bees and their crucial role. I hope it inspires the next generation to support pollinators.
‘Jubilee Bee’ by Iona Chisholm is available on Amazon.co.uk as an e-book or paperback.