Ever since i was a child, i have loved wild flowers. The diversity we have is huge and most flowers have a beauty of their own. When i lived with my parents as a student, i was thrilled to see how well betony and ramsons grow on the clay soil. We had lots of wild flowers and their garden is not even big, especially not if you compare the average garden in the UK (90m2) and the Netherlands to those in countries like the US or South-Africa. Still, you can enjoy the beauty of wild flowers even if you have just a few square metres available.
Sweet briar – rosa rubiginosa is a native plant with very pretty flowers if you ask me:
In my garden i mix garden plants such as lavender, salvia with native wild flowers and i love the combination. Most of the native plants i have are grown from seeds bought from an organic nursery or a conservation trust. Others, like the sweet briar, i bought them when they were just a few inches high and the price was very reasonable, about 2 euros each. I just want to illustrate that it is possible to start gardening with wild flowers even if you cannot afford to spend a lot of money.
Greater Stitchwort -Stellaria holostea:
Becoming increasingly rare in both the Netherlands and the UK: Columbine
Bees, butterflies and other pollinators love Greater Knapweed:
Beautiful cornflowers, corn marigold and Rampion Bellflower
Please look at the amount of pollen the bee is collecting on chicory:
One of my favourite flower species: campanula:
When ivy is in flower, the air is buzzing with bees. Here you can see a bee collecting pollen. Isn’t nature simply awesome?
Wild flowers are a great source of nectar and pollen for bees and other pollinators; birds and small mammals feed on their seeds and in the case of ivy, the berries provide a valuable source of food in late winter, early spring when not so much food is available. So important for our biodiversity.
To reconnect and value nature, that is what it is what this blog is all about.
Wildlife garden 
Marco – another lovely blog. I especially like the bee on the chicory! We’ve lost much wildflower habitat due to land management practice, building and development, but you are absolutely right – there’s no reason why we can’t include beautiful wildflowers in our gardens.
Hello Amanda! many thanks for the kind words :-). We will not be able to fully restore our wildflower habitat so let’s start planting some of these beautiful flowers in our gardens and study the beautiful lives of our bees and other pollinators.
Lovely pictures! A glimpse of summer in mid-winter…
Thank you so much, Sharon. I am glad you liked the pictures. Now let’s wait for spring!
I’m a huge fan of wildflowers, too. I think this is mainly because they do not require much attention or care and can be grown so easily. Most wildflowers can be very pretty!