June gap

 Gardeners often refer to the June gap, this is the period between the end of the spring flowers and the start of the summer blooms. This is not only a lean time for the gardener but also for bees as there is very little nectar about.

Here at the Willows I manged to bridge this gap quite well as you can see from these photo's of the wildflower area. The next succesion of flowers are already in bud ready to bridge the gap into July.

 

It is very important that gardeners do select bee friendly plants that flower at this time of year. The marked decline in the bee population will affect us all if our crops and flowers aren't pollinated in the future

Another native plant that is coming into flower is this stunning little orchid Dactylorhiza maculata or Marsh spotted orchid. This one is growing in a pot as part of my alpine/orchid collection the garden soil here is heavy clay which wouldn't suit it if I planted it out. I should add that it was bought from a reputable grower and not collected from the wild which would be both illegal and irresponsible.

Dactylorhiza maculata.