Canalside Wildflower Meadow and rare Bee Orchids
Last year we created Mercia’s first wildflower meadow. It’s changing beauty throughout the year as flowers died off and new ones came on, surprised and delighted us all. That Wildflower Meadow is already showing good promise for this summer.
The pictures, taken by Jo James and Jules, show the new Wildflower Meadow at the water entrance to the marina. This year is it’s first, the ground clearing and sowing having been done in the Spring, but it is already showing great promise. The wildflowers that grow will be different from the other Wildflower Meadow due to the different soil conditions, the mix of seeds being identical.
The new one can be seen as you come in by boat or just walk over to the Wildlife Field to see it across the marina entrance. One of the great delights is how the colours change over the season as different flowers come on so keep checking back regularly. At the same time, see how the Willow Spiral Landscape Art done by volunteers in March is doing and have a look at the new interpretation board.
Finally, many of you will have seen the very rare bee orchids that have grown atop the bank by FB2. Stuart has just spotted some more near FB3 and more and more are being found. Stunning rare flowers which we are fortunate to have. The Wildlife Trust points out “The Bee Orchid gets its name from its main pollinator - the bee - which is thought to have driven the evolution of the flowers. To attract the pollinating bees, the plant has evolved bee-like flowers; drawing them in with the promise of love, the bees are naturally attracted to the flowers and fly in to attempt a mating. As they land on the velvet-textured lip of the flower, the pollen is transferred and the poor bee is left frustrated. Sadly, the right species of bee doesn't occur in the UK, so Bee Orchids are self-pollinated here. Look out for their diminutive flower spikes on dry, chalk and limestone grasslands from June to July.”
