Urban Pollinators: May 2014

This is my last blog post about the flower meadows in Reading. The Urban Pollinators Project is in its last year now, with fieldwork completed and only data analysis and publication of results still to do. I myself (Reading team) will leave the project today but the Bristol and Leeds team will carry on to complete the final tasks.

Perennial meadows

The perennial meadows have been quite a success (look here for some pictures) and were alive with many different pollinators and other wildlife from May to August last year. The good news is that Reading Borough Council is keeping three of the five perennial meadows which are now starting to flower or, in the case of Portman Road, are already flowering. Best time to visit the perennial meadows is between June and August.

Perennial meadows which can be visited this year:

Meadway Recreation Ground, Tilehurst

Portman Road (opposite Ashmere Terrace)

Westfield Road Recreation Ground, Lower Caversham

If you like the perennial meadows and want to create your own little meadow in your garden have a look here.

The flower meadow along Portman Road looks stunning at the moment

Red clover (Trifolium pratense)

White campion (Silene latifolia)

Meadow buttercup (Ranunculus acris) and Red campion

Red campion (Silene dioica)

Tree bumblebee sheltering in Black knapweed flower head

Red campion and Meadow buttercup

Wild marjoram (Origanum vulgare), soon flowering

Early bumblebee male (Bombus pratorum)

Birds-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)

Black knapweed and Ox-eye daisies in our meadow along Portman Road

Common carder bee drinking nectar from a Bird`s-foot trefoil flower

Wild mignonette (Reseda lutea)

Red clover (Trifolium pratense)

The perennial meadow in Westfield Road Recreation Ground

Black knapweed (Centaurea nigra) and Ox-eye daisies

Early bumblebee drinking nectar from Creeping buttercup

Annual meadows

Sadly the annual meadows have not been resown this year due to a tight council budget. Some annual flowers such as Californian poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) and Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis) have self-seeded from last years plants which looks quite pretty in the former annual meadow in Victoria Recreation Ground in Tilehurst but mostly there are just a few patches of colourful annual plants between more weedy plants.

If you liked last years annual meadows (here are some pictures from July last year) why not create your own little annual meadow next year (or even this year if you are quick) in pots or a spare bit of ground in a sunny corner of your garden. Here is how to do it: How to create an annual flower meadow.

A dung fly sitting on a Pot marigold flower head

A little fly

Californian poppy (Eschscholzia californica)

The former annual meadow in Victoria Recreation Ground

Californian poppies in the rain

Corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas)

Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)

Californian poppies and Pot Marigold

Bright red Papaver flowers are glowing even in bad weather

Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis)

Poppies are often visited by bumblebees in sunny weather

After all the warmth and sunshine we had in mid-May the weather has now taken a turn for the worse and rain seems to dominate, at least in the South-East. Not very good news for pollinators as many stop foraging when it rains and seek shelter under leaves, in their nests or inside or underneath flowers. But there are still some busy bumblebees to be seen, even in the rain, and flowers can look beautiful when covered in sparkling raindrops.

Next time it rains do not stay inside; waterproof yourself and discover the wet and wonderful world in front of your door.