May in the meadow

In the first spring and summer after we moved here, I left the grass in half of our front garden to grow long to see if any wildflowers came up on their own. To my (and the bees’) delight, I found primrose, cow parsley, buttercups (meadow and creeping), clovers, fox-and-cubs, cuckoo flower, goat’s beard, germander speedwell, and geranium. Last fall and this spring, I added some wildflower plants and sowed a mix of flower seed over the area. This year, the primroses put on an early, pretty display, just as they did last year, followed by cow parsley and buttercups, both in greater abundance than last year. New flowers in the meadow this spring are oxeye daisy, yellow rattle - now displaying its impressive ripening seed pods - and yellow vetchling which is just starting to flower this week. I’m not the only one enjoying the meadow - it’s been abuzz with bees all spring!