BUTTERFLIES AND BEES

There is nothing i like better on a warm summer`s evening,than sitting on a seat in my garden ,watching the activity of the butterflies and bees.I have noticed that the different types of both have increased since i started planting flowers especially for them.
Last summer,the`brimstone`,speckled wood`,and`comma`butterflies all visited for the first time.At around the same time i dug up some turf from the lawn to make a gravel path,and instead of composting it,i put the turf pieces on top of the flat roof of the shed,to make a tiny meadow.
Later in the summer i noticed small bees burrowing into the turf i`d placed there,and after watching them for some time,i discovered that they were leaf-cutter bees.They would fly to the wild cherry tree,by the pond,and cut a perfect semi-circle from one of it`s leaves,then fly back to their nests.Very soon the tree had been completely stripped of all of it`s leaves,yet it was the only one targeted.

PLANTS FOR BUTTERFLIES AND BEES

Birdsfoot trefoil-lotus corniculatus:yellow flowers.june to september
Black knapweed-centaurea nigra:purple flowers.june to september
Cuckoo flower-cardamine pratensis:pink flowers.april to june
Field scabious-knautia arvensis:blue flowers.july to september
Fleabane-pulicaria dysenterica:yellow flowers.august to september
Hemp agrimony-eupatorium cannabinum:pink flowers.july to september
Maiden pink-dianthus deltoides:pink flowers.june to september
Oxeye daisy-leucanthemum vulgare:white flowers.may to september
Sorrel-rumex acetosa:red flowers.may to june
Teasel-dipsacus fullonum:pink flowers.july to august
Thyme-thymus drucei.pink flowers.may to august
Red valerian-centranthus ruber:red flowers may to september

2008.