MCV: March Newsletter

The fine spell we have been enjoying has brought out the butterflies and bumblebees, even the odd honeybee. Just as well that some of our early nectar plants are also in flower. It’s still not too late to purchase flowering currants or mahonias, if you wish to beef up the wildlife provision in your own garden; low growing anemone blanda and pulmonaria are also bee friendly.

Our birds are active too and I was reminded this week that I should not be too quick to remove dried vegetation from around our gardens. I had planned to tidy up the dried growth on overwintered trailing lobelia, when a wren appeared, busily collecting it for her nest! The tidying up can wait a while and the lobelia is already sprouting healthily, so that is something to look forward to in the summer. It’s such a common plant, we sometimes overlook its toughness and capacity to keep on flowering and the bees love it too, of course.

Slowworms also love sheltered log piles and dried vegetation, so I’ve learned to lift dried crocosmia leaves very carefully in case something is still sleeping beneath. Not every creature thinks it’s Spring!

To find out more about Milford Conservation Volunteers, please visit;

www.milfordcv.org