Wildflower Meadow

I was delighted to see this swathe of wildflowers last week. It occupies about an acre in the grounds of a local hotel, The North Lakes, which we use regularly. I'm really interested in creating a wildflower area at the lodge so I went for a closer look at this area.

In the time allowed, I didn't get a chance to count species but it was mainly oxeye daisies which I love to blip. I was concerned as to how valuable they may be to pollinators and I quickly came across this report from Chelsea Green Publishing:-


"Oxeye daisies are known as one of the most important plants for pollinators in the UK, and evidence from North America confirms that diverse types of pollinators, including beetles, ants, and moths, also use oxeye daisies as a source of pollen and nectar. So oxeye daisies are serving valuable ecological functions – potentially more valuable than the crops they grow next to or the pasture grasses they appear to compete with."