Do you have a plant from the Scabious family in your garden? Then lucky you! In this fascinating article, Dr Martin Angel lets us know what pollinators he has found visiting the Scabious sp. in his garden in Farnham, Surrey. Click on the link below the image to download the PDF.
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Another fascinating article from Dr Martin Angel summarising his study of the common rock rose (Cistus x hybridus) in his garden in Rowledge, Surrey and the huge variety of pollinators that visited it.
We all know how important our gardens can be for pollinators but it can be amazing to look at particular plants during the year to see what species of pollinators turn up. That's exactly what Rowledge resident and member of the Farnham Biodiversity Partnership Dr. Martin Angel has done - with respect to the Apple Mint (Mentha suaveoleus) which he has growing in his garden. The results are amazing. Take a look at the PDF copy of his article below to see the huge variety of species which turned up and which he has included his wonderful photos of....including the elusive Brown Hairstreak butterfly pictured above.
We were delighted that the school garden did brilliantly at the Farnham in Bloom “School Gardens” awards again on 5th October and we remain on top as pumpkin royalty :
Largest pumpkin - 1st place Rowledge Primary School Tallest sunflower - 2nd place Rowledge Primary School Best kept garden - 3rd place Rowledge Primary School We were up against about 7 other schools in the town so can be very proud of our achievements. Thank you as always to the pupils and Alex May-Scholl for the hard graft, FORS for the funding and all of the other grown-ups who help by donating to or buying from the Market Cart. We would love more people to get involved in the garden next spring - please let us know in advance if you have a free couple of hours on a Thursday afternoon and we’ll get you stuck in! The second half of Year 1 were out in the garden today enjoying the sunshine.
We all planted french bean seeds which will be grown in butlers sinks in the garden this summer. They also helped top up the potato plants which were planted before Easter and which are already poking their green shoots through the compost. The bags will need topping up with more compost occasionally as this encourages a bigger yield of potatoes. There were a few bees out this afternoon as well, enjoying the pollen which we have in the garden for them. A blustery but productive afternoon in the garden for half of Year 1 today.
A big thanks to our new volunteer Alex for her help. We planted lots of sweat peas (those planted over winter got caught by a frost sadly) and got some potatoes in the ground for Reception class cooking lessons with Bridget later in the summer. The crab apple tree funded by FORS last April as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy is in bud and will soon be full of blossom for the bumble bees who are already whizzing around looking for suitable nesting sites. Year 3 have been out in the beautiful sunshine for the past two weeks of gardening getting the raised vegetable beds cleared and topped up with manure ready for the growing season….it’s nearly here! A big thank you to Nikki for all of the help.
It was wonderful to see that all of the snowdrops which Flora and Alex helped some of the pupils plant in the wildlife inclosure last year are all now in flower and providing some much needed forage for the queen bumblebees. New hedges and newts; Year 6 were out in force today helping to prepare the ground and plant a new mixed native hedge in the wildlife pond enclosure. The hedging whips were donated by The Woodland Trust as part of their “Trees for Schools” campaign. The hedge will be made up of several species of native hedging plant which are all wildlife superstars - hawthorn, blackthorn, dog wood, dog rose and hazel.
Flora Rigg ran a pond dipping session at the same time and found what is likely to be our last newt of the year - a lovely palmate newt which will now be logged on the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Amphibian and Reptile record database. Their research and data is used to protect all of our native species of amphibians and reptiles and any sightings of frogs, toads, newts, snakes or lizards should always be logged with them if possible: https://www.recordpool.org.uk Some of the Reception class pupils were out today to help harvest our award winning pumpkin on the same day that the school made the front cover of the Farnham Herald for its recent wins in the Farnham in Bloom awards.
The pumpkin will be on display in the office until half term when it will be taken home by various people for eating. Part of it will be made into soup for the volunteers helping at a local community conservation project taking place over half term. The pupils also planted some winter heather and bulbs to brighten up the front entrance over the coming months. Well done team! The results are in!
This evening we attended the “Farnham in Bloom Schools Award Ceremony” and are delighted to let you know that not only do we officially have the tallest sunflower - but we also have the largest pumpkin! Gold - Tallest Sunflower Gold - Largest Pumpkin Highly Commended - best kept school garden Congratulations go to all of the pupils who have helped in the garden this season and a massive thank you to all of the volunteers who have helped out. An extra special thank you to both Flora Rigg and Alex Sholl-May for their dedication to the garden, to 'Coomers Timber & Building Supplies' for their donation of the soil used for the pumpkin patch and to the whole of the FORS team for their continued support. |
Sarah WomersleyBusy Bees Gardening & Wildlife Club Volunteer Archives
October 2023
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