Cow Parsley…or, as it is sometimes known, Queen Anne’s Lace (although, tbh, the Queen Anne’s Lace I used to see in America looks quite different & has even tinier blooms in round clusters that are, indeed, very lacy in appearance). Anyway, these lovely, white wildflowers in the UK are much tinier than they may appear in this closeup photo. They grow in joined up clusters, with many flowers sprouting out from multiple thin stems. I’m not sure if you’ll be able to see it, but in this photo-taken by amb- Sunlight is just glancing off the top left of the many clusters of flowers, making them appear just a bit brighter. There’s more wee blooms here than I can possibly count and each holds nectar valuable to bees and other pollinators. The background is a blur of green foliage. Such a beautiful little wildflower…with quite a peculiar name! Still, here is Nature, doing Her part to Garden For Wildlife with wildflowers rich in nectar. If you have the space to do it…and poor soil (yes, really) growing a patch of a variety of wildflowers is a wonderful way to provide so many bees, butterflies and other pollinators with the nectar and pollen they desperately need to survive. But, as I always say, even a pot of flowering plants can help all kinds of wildlife - from insects to invertebrates. Habitats are rapidly disappearing, so all these creature, including many species of birds & animals, need all the help we can give them. In this case, Nature has found a random place to grow such flowers…likely with the help of passing creatures or breezes that carry wildflower seeds. They all matter & can make such a difference to Life on this increasingly burdened planet. 🙏Garden for Wildlife, however you can.~💞

Cow Parsley-odd name for such pretty #Wildflowers These tiny #blossoms are related to what’s known in🇺🇸as Queen Anne’s Lace. Many clusters of 5 delicate, almost heart-shaped petals fan out from tiny centres: a great source of nectar for🐝! #bloomscrolling #Nature #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb

Hawthorn, also known as May Blossoms. These have started flowering a bit early, in April. They’re beautiful little blooms, with 5 round, white petals & several pink-tipped stamens sticking out from a green/yellow centre. The small white “globes” you may spot are merely more flowers still in bud. The Hawthorn has beautiful, glossy green leaves that are almost “palmate” - that is, shaped a bit like a hand spread open, with slightly serrated edged ends. Bees and other pollinators are revelling in the abundance of nectar & pollen from these blossoms. And, come Autumn, this same tree will have small red berries for birds to eat. This Hawthorn is growing in a nearby hedgerow so we are fortunate enough to see it blossoming every year. If you have a bit of space in a garden, the Hawthorn makes a wonderful addition, bringing flowers in Spring, sheltering green leaves through Summer and berries later in the year. In other words, it’s a great way to Garden For Wildlife. If you can, please try - as we so often say, even potted flowering shrubs and a shallow dish of fresh water can prove invaluable, even life-saving, to so many creatures- from invertebrates to bees, birds and butterflies. Nature tries with wildflowers where possible, but with so many wild habitats being bulldozed to make room for soulless housing estates, huge warehouses, immense grocery stores or even empty office buildings, wildlife need all the help we can give them. Please, if you can 🙏Garden For Wildlife. It may be the most rewarding - & even basic - thing you can do to help this planet & its amazing array of creatures. This photo was taken by amb.~💞

Hawthorn aka #MayBlossoms #blooming a bit early in a nearby #hedgerow These pretty little #flowers are nectar & pollen-rich, great for🐝 other pollinators &-later-🐦s too! A great #tree for a #garden if you have space. #Spring #bloomscrolling #Nature #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb

Three tiny Speedwell Germander wildflowers growing amidst tangled grass in a nearby lane’s hedgerow. They have 4 pale purple-streaked & almost white petals: one large petal at the top, 2 crossing from the flower’s pale green/white centre & one longer petal at the bottom. It has 2 little white stamens that stand up, sticking out from the centre. These are a wild variety of the Speedwell grown in some gardens. Small as they are, though, these wildflowers have a lot of nectar for bees & other pollinators. Again, Nature is Gardening For Wildlife. We hope you will, too, however you are able. Habitats are disappearing so rapidly on a daily basis. Wildlife need all the help we can give them. Please, if you can even just have a potted flowering plant or two…and a daily shallow dish of fresh water for birds (& even bees & other insects, which actually need to drink, too)…a bird box (placed up high & out of direct Sunlight); or a Bee Hotel, also placed out of direct Sunlight- you could make a world of difference to the many amazing creatures so vital to ecosystems all over. After all, this world was theirs long before humans came along & started building, paving over & otherwise destroying so much of this planet and Nature’s beauty. 🙏Please Garden For Wildlife, if you can. Every little bit helps. Photo taken by amb. ~💞

Speedwell Germander -tiny #wildflowers growing amidst a tangle of grass in a nearby lane. These incredibly small, beautiful, 4-petalled #flowers have lots of nectar for 🐝& were a lovely find in a #hedgerow #bloomscrolling #Garden4Wildlife #Nature #photography -amb

Pale - almost white - yellow Primroses, with 2 tiny, wild Violets, after rain. This cluster of Primroses was found by amb on a walk, just after we’d received a heavy rainfall. Some of the Primroses were already going over, so were wilted by time & the downpour. They are very delicate looking flowers, with 5 heart-shaped petals meeting in a bright, golden yellow centre. They’re surrounded mostly by their green, ovate, serrated edged foliage. These Primroses are actually meant to be a very pale yellow, but so papery-thin & frail are their lovely petals, they look almost white in the shaded spot where they were found and photographed by amb. Two very small, light purple, wild violets are in the frame, too: one at the bottom completely bedraggled; the other, with its almost butterfly-like petals bejewelled with raindrops, is on the right, about halfway up the photograph. Many of the Primroses’ leaves also have raindrops on them. All these lovely little flowers are growing wild along a nearby hedgerow’s path. The rain had only just stopped a short time before and these beautiful, fragile wildflowers had managed -most of them- to survive the heavy rainfall. Photo by amb. ~💞

#Wildflowers ~ #Primroses & #Violets growing along a #hedgerow path after a heavy rainstorm. These lovely little #Spring #blossoms brightened up a shaded spot. Once dry, these #flowers will be a welcome feeding spot for🐝 Even #Nature can be seen to #Garden4Wildlife #bloomscrolling #photography -amb

A plethora of tiny, vivid blue Forget-Me-Nots. Though small, these flowers - with their 5 round petals & miniature white centre - are a boon of nectar for bees and other pollinators. There’s quite a cluster here, sort of cascading through their deeply textured green leaves almost like streams of blue speckles. Strangely enough, we only see their colour this vivid when they are in shade. So amb had to stand in the way of the Sun or these flowers would otherwise look almost washed-out in direct Sunlight! This is a lesson I learned myself years ago, when trying to take a photo of them…winding up with an oblong shadow of myself 🤭 in which the Forget-Me-Nots showed their true blue colour. (That’s a photo taken in a previous year & posted on here some time ago). This photo was taken by amb earlier this month. We have lots of Forget-Me-Nots now, turning up in various spots across our small front garden, as they’ve spread naturally. Please Garden for Wildlife, however you can. Even these wee flowers can prove invaluable to bees, bee-moths, bee-flies and other pollinators who can always rely on the tiny white centres for a bit of nectar.-tam💞

A splash of #Forget-Me-Not #flowers amidst green foliage in our small front #garden Their tiny blue #blooms show their colour best in shadow. Great for🐝& other pollinators. And they’ll spread lovely blue colour across any patch. #Spring #bloomscrolling #Garden4Wildlife #photography by amb -💞

This photo -by amb- shows a cluster of white Bluebells, as well as several pale lavender colour Bluebells to the right & behind the white ones. Bluebells come in a variety of colours besides the deep Purple-Blue most people associate with & see in “Bluebell Woods.” We’re fortunate to have several colours in our small front garden. But they all share the same “pixie-hat” shape, their downward facing blooms flaring out in frilly tips. There’s much more to this picture than just the bluebells, though: On the lower right, near the lowest of the white bluebells, is a lovely little Viola - its petals dark purple edged, with lighter purple, white & again dark purple around the yellow at its centre. Its shape here very much resembles a beautiful little butterfly! Also, in the very lower right, there are a couple of tiny, blue Forget-Me-Not flowers, just visible in that bottom right corner (& part of a much larger group). Another couple of those are just peeking in on the right side, about halfway up, near the end of a long, spent stem of another flower. To the left of the white bluebells there’s lots of the lovely, feathery foliage of Love-In-A-Mist flowers that have yet to bloom: the foliage shows up first & remains afterward-fine, delicate green sprays, so pretty even without any flowers. If you spot little splotches of dark purple or dusky rose pink, those are the remnants of spent Pansies & Hellebores, respectively. We’ve been so lucky at the moment to have a continuing blossoming of many different flowers. This is great for the bees, other pollinators, snails & slugs, too. All these creatures play their part in this small garden’s ecosystem. It may not be a neat & tidy garden, but we never intended it to be. Whilst we plant what we love to see, it’s also things that are good for wildlife-which includes those insects & invertebrates as well as birds. Please Garden For Wildlife, however you can. They need these natural spots more than ever, as habitats disappear.~💞

White #Bluebells -as well as some light purple ones-in our front #garden Bluebells actually come in many colours & we have a variety of them #blooming now. So many #flowers this #Spring We’ve been blessed w/an abundance of #blossoms so the #bees are happy!🐝 #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb

A European Robin sitting on a branch of the Honeysuckle tree in our small back garden. He is seen in profile, facing right, amidst the green leaves above (and way down at the bottom) of the naturally peeling, light brown branches & trunks of the tree. Americans-such as myself-may be surprised at how different the European Robin is from Robins we’ve grown up seeing in North America. European Robins are quite small, with orange-red breasts (hence why they’re often referred to as Robin Redbreast in old folk songs & poems, etc). That red is like an upside-down heart, the curved parts on its actual breast, the rest narrowing upward to cover the area around its sharp pointed beak & around its beady little eye. The feathers below the red breast are light grey, encompassing most of its body. While its back & wing feathers are a light brown. It has tiny but sharp-clawed feet, suited to clinging to any branch. This one perched long enough on a lower branch of the Honeysuckle for amb to get a rare photo of a bird who’s such a constant-but also swift- visitor. He-or she, for they look the same-are almost always the first to fly in seeking food & will wait-sometimes a bit impatiently😅-for that bird food to be set out on the table. They will even hang around waiting whilst the table is being thoroughly cleaned & dried (Very Important task to do on a frequent basis!) before fresh food’s set out. But they also seek & find Nature’s food in our garden: insects, worms, etc. They’re very cheeky & seem rather sweet but are known to fight fiercely over territory. The male’s beautiful song is part of laying claim to a territory, as well as-this time of year especially-trying to hopefully impress a possible mate. We love the many Robins who’ve been coming to our little oasis of a garden for decades now. They remain a constant & have such cheeky personalities, as well as blessing the earliest morning light & even hours beyond sundown, with their song.🙏Garden For Wildlife~tam💞

#Robin in the Honeysuckle #tree in our sm. #garden #Robins have been visiting/pairing/nesting nearby/coming to feed-both at our table & finding #Nature ‘s food-for yrs. Cheeky, bold, unafraid & adorable these wee, lovely welcome #birds sing fr/Dawn well past Dusk. #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb

Closeup photograph-taken by amb: the 1st Bluebells of 2026 to pop up & start blooming in our small front garden patch. Their flowers really do resemble tiny pixie hats: bell-shaped, but splaying out into little flares of softly striped lavender blue & light purple. Amidst the opened flowers are ones still in bud, which look a bit like purple asparagus! But they’ll each open, too, eventually. We’ve been blessed with many more Bluebells this year as their bulbs have managed to survive last year’s troubled swings of global warming-heatwaves, drought, flooding rain. They also survived last year’s awful invasion of russian sage, which for a time smothered the front garden completely. But the ground was so hard & dry, we had to wait for some rain until those invaders could be dug out-an arduous task which took days. In the course of reclaiming the garden, some bulbs were also removed, saved & stored in our shed. Some of those were hyacinths which actually sprouted in the shed over Winter & were promptly brought out & planted in a pot out back (see earlier posts). But many bulbs remained deep in the garden & we’ve been fortunate that they not only survived the chaos of weather/invasive plants/digging removal: but have been returning better than ever. When we moved to our tiny TH-called “terraced houses” in🇬🇧-the front was nothing but wood bark chips over rubble-filled poor soil. By adding just a bit of compost in order to plant our Queen of Sweden rose & a few other🌸things, then truly Gardening for Wildlife-letting snails, slugs & worms come do their work: nibbling, taking leaf litter down into the earth, we’ve been rewarded w/soil that’s been fully & naturally enriched. Please Garden For Wildlife: plant nectar-rich🌸plants; use No pesticides; leave dead leaves in Fall; let🐌 slugs &🪱be. You’ll be amazed at what Nature’s own creatures accomplish-giving back so much-even if it means your flowers get nibbled & your garden’s a bit messy. It’s worth it, as you can see~💞

First #Bluebells to open in our small front #garden Each yr we see more #flowers as they slowly spread. These downward facing, slightly striped light purple #blooms flare out like wee frilled pixie hats 🥰 #Spring is still gifting us w/new #blossoms & #Hope #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb

amb’s photo of a nearby Wild Cherry tree, most of its branches covered in clusters of little white blossoms. It seems thinner than in years past, when we’ve seen it so full it was like an enormous bouquet of white flowers. Now one can see through it to the brilliant blue sky (with a couple puffs of white clouds) on the day this photo was taken. I think last year’s horrendous weather-terrible months of heatwaves & drought- combined with the local council cutting back the hedgerow severely, have contributed to this tree’s thinned out look. Still there are so many blossoms that We’re hopeful it will still produce the many wild cherries on which several garden birds feed later in the year. The strange thing is: We’ve never actually seen the fruits on the tree. So how do we know they exist? Well…we find what remains after they’ve been eaten, mostly by the huge Wood Pigeons: the cherry pit that’s been-to put it politely-passed thru the birds’ digestive system. Those pigeons do leave “their mark” everywhere, throughout the year. It’s one reason regular, thorough cleaning of bird feeders & tables is so important. Some birds-like the Wood Pigeons-carry diseases to which they are immune but which can be fatal for other garden birds. When there’s bird poo on a bird table or in the water of your birdbath, both need a thorough clean with a wildlife-friendly disinfectant such as Ark-klens. It’s easy to use but should be rinsed thoroughly & the surfaces dried before putting out fresh food & water. I know this all sounds off topic to this lovely photo, but seeing those blooms reminds me to tell you about that vital aspect of trying to Garden For Wildlife. Regular, thorough cleaning of feeders, tables, birdbaths, etc is absolutely vital to garden birds’ welfare. This is a lesson we learned the hard way.😔😢Please Garden for Wildlife, but please make sure everything they eat from, drink & bathe in is cleaned thoroughly & often.🙏~💞

#WildCherry #tree covered with #blossoms in the nearby #hedgerow Its clusters of white #flowers stand out against the brilliant blue sky. #garden #bloomscrolling #trees #birds (pls read ALT) #Spring #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb

Closeup photo-taken by amb-of a cluster of tiny, white Bridal Wreath blossoms on a small branch of what once was an enormous, flower-full shrub. Time, terrible weather patterns, some pruning but also the interference of other, wild plants have reduced our beautiful Bridal Wreath bush to a few sprigs, but at least we are starting to see them return a bit with these pretty little flowers. They really are such tiny blooms: each with 5 roundish white petals surrounding pale yellow centres which hold the stamens & stigma bees & other pollination will flock to. Their little leaves are ovate-pointed at each end. But in this photo this particular, thin branch of Bridal Wreath has become entangled with the variegated-leaved branches of our Weigela shrub, which will-hopefully-be full of its own pink flowers later in Spring. Still, we are grateful to see any flowers at all appear on what’s left of a once burgeoning Bridal Wreath shrub. Though the flowers are tiny, every one of them holds precious pollen for bees, etc. And, small as they are, they’re simply lovely & delicate wee blossoms…still surviving somehow after many years in our small garden hedgerow, still growing beside the wooden fence. 🙏Please Garden for Wildlife, however you can. You don’t have to have a garden. Potted flowering plants can help, as will a dish of water-kept clean & refreshed often. Anything you can do can make such a difference. I say it so often, but that’s because it’s that important a message: as habitats rapidly disappear, wildlife -that means everything from garden birds to bees, snails, slugs, worms & so many forms of Life that are absolutely vital to the ecosystem-need all the help we can give them.🙏~💞

Tiny Bridal Wreath #blossoms have returned to our small back #garden #hedgerow These pretty little #flowers pack a punch when it comes to helping #bees & other pollinators. This is a wee sprig still growing fr/what was a huge #shrub The variegated🍃are fr/a Weigela. #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb

I managed to take this photo of a bunch of Narcissus flowers (Narcissi is the proper plural). They were closed buds when brought home from the grocery store, gradually opening up once they were placed in a vase on the wooden sideboard in our hallway. They’re no less beautiful for having been store-bought instead of from our own garden. To be honest, we rarely cut any flowers from our garden to bring in-apart from our Queen of Sweden roses, which won’t bloom until May. We’d rather leave the flowers in our garden for bees & other creatures to benefit. The Queen kf Sweden roses are an exception: their petals are so dense, they’re no good for bees, unfortunately…but do have a lovely scent when brought indoors. But I’ve digressed from telling you about these flowers! Sorry! All the Daffodils you see popping up outdoors in Spring? They are all actually types & variations of Narcissus! In this photo, these Narcissus flowers have 6 almost ovate, cream coloured petals that splay out like a star around a deep orange, very frilly centre. But-were these growing outdoors-this frilled mini-trumpet is not too tight for bees or other pollinators to access. The front-most flower shows you the interior, where several little round “blobs” are actually stamens - they produce pollen. They encircle one stigma, which will be where a passing bee might leave some of that pollen, thus…pollinating the flower! Obviously, as these flowers are sitting on our sideboard, that process won’t happen. But at this time of year, millions of different types of daffodils/narcissi are blooming in swathes across lawns and countryside…and bees & pollinators will be benefitting. It seems a bit churlish of me to ask you to Garden for Wildlife here, as these flowers were store bought & sit indoors. But I still hope you’ll give gardening for wildlife - even with potted flowers/plants - a try. Nature gives us such beauty, but as habitats disappear, wildlife need all the help they can get.🙏~tam💞

#Narcissus #flowers opening up indoors. Store bought, but these #blooms are no less lovely for being so. These are yet another example of the beauty of #Spring that’s slowly spreading across the land. #DaffodilsAreNarcissi #Hope #Nature #bloomscrolling #Garden4Wildlife #photography by tam💞

Closer look at some of the many little Violas in our small front garden. These are all a lovely purple colour, fading to lighter purple as the colour goes inward, then a ring of very dark purple surrounding a tiny yellow centre, where the pollen bees need is. These Violas almost seem to be strung across this spot like a necklace of flowers. They have all spread from ones planted back in December on what was then almost bare earth. Now these lovely roundels of colour are surrounded by all sorts of green foliage. There are long stems from bulb plants-likely the tulips that eventually came up & have been opening daily. There’s also the serrated-edged leaves of wild strawberry plants, as well as many things just growing wild at the moment. The bit of dusky rose colour at the bottom of this photo-taken by amb- is petals of one of our Hellebores - flowers that are wonderful to have going for Winter. They will not only bloom thru the cold & snowy weather, they’ll continue to flower for many months afterward, providing more food for bees & other pollinators. Please Garden For Wildlife, however you can. Birds, bees, snails, worms, slugs (yes, they’re important, too!) & so many other insects & other living things need our help as habitats rapidly disappear, especially in suburbia, as people opt for “fuss-free” gravel or concrete slabs instead of gardens, which do require work & care. But the smallest bit of planting-a pot of flowers, watered & kept deadheaded to produce more blooms-can make a world of difference . Even a dish of water-always refreshed & kept clean (especially cleared of algae)-helps birds & even bees, who do need a drink now & then. Nature rewards us with such beauty we often take it for granted. But again, Nature needs our help, as mankind continues to wreak havoc on this planet. Please Garden for Wildlife, even a little bit. Theirs is a world worth saving…and so many of them were here long before we came along. 🙏💚~💞

Pretty #Violas all in a row in our small front #garden which is full of #Spring #flowers #plants #blooms #Garden4Wildlife #bloomscrolling #photography -by amb

Against a brilliant blue sky, these branches of a male Goat Willow tree -including the ones peeking in at the upper lefthand corner-are sprawling outreaches of Spring Life, covered as they are in fuzzy Catkins. Some are still closed & would feel as soft as a cat’s softest fur if you could reach that high to touch them. Others, more noticeable in this photo, are fully open, very fuzzy & golden: pollen-rich. Such welcome food for bees and other pollinators. It’s a heartening sight to see the trees, plants & flowers coming back to life after a miserable Winter. Tbh, with all the horrible things going on in the world right now, we find ourselves clinging to these photo images - signs of Spring & Nature’s rebirth. They sing…just as the birds sing before the Sun has even risen…proof positive there is still beauty in the world. We must treasure every moment, every glimpse…and try to hear Nature’s song of Life above the din of so much frightening news. It is a song worth trying to sustain. Please Garden For Wildlife, however you might be able to. They give us so much. And More than ever, they need our help.🙏💚~💞 photo taken by amb

#Catkins opening up on a male Goat #Willow #tree nearby. These provide pollen for🐝as well the tree being a favoured #habitat for #Moths & #caterpillars Once these catkins are “over“ the tree will be covered in #green 🍃& prove a fav of🐦too. #Garden4Wildlife #Spring #Nature #photography -amb 🙏☮️~💞

There’s so many kinds of flowers here, I’ll try to tell you as much as I can. All the large, bright yellow ones are Tulips, just opening. Tiny star-shaped white flowers (top left, mostly) are Scilla. The plethora of little light purple/white & magenta flowers that almost look like they have “angry little faces” are Violas. Larger, dark purple flowers near them are Pansies. Along the bottom are many clusters of Grape Hyacinths. In the centre of those some rose pink & cream coloured Hellebores are still going strong. If you’ve got a keen eye, you might see a tiny, round white flower near the lower right, to the left of some tulips: that’s a little Wild Strawberry blossom, which will eventually become a wee fruit that birds eat. The woody sticks in the middle are what’s left of our cut back Queen of Sweden Rosebush, which has been trimmed of deadwood & now is sort of like a bouquet shape. We won’t see Roses until May, though. Meanwhile there are plenty of different flowers for bees & other pollinators to choose from here. It’s wonderful to see, even if it’s all a bit chaotic. After last year’s drought, heatwave & russian sage invasion it’s a miracle-& a lot of hard gardening work by amb, tbh - that’s brought this patch back to abundant Life! With so many awful things going on in the world, we all need some Beauty to look at…& Nature, given some human help, gifts us with so much of that. Please Garden For Wildlife, however you can. They need all the help they can get, as habitats are bulldozed & built over..& man continues to ravage so much of this beautiful planet. Even if all you can do is have a pot or two of flowering plants, a dish of water (changed daily & kept clean, w/a rock for birds to hop up on in case it’s a bit deep) those things alone help so many creatures we take for granted…It was their planet long before mankind came along. And, tbh, it does us good, too, just seeing Nature’s beauty return. 🙏~tam💞

#Spring has truly sprung! Our sm. front #garden is full of so many #flowers 🐝have quite a choice! #Tulips #Violas #Pansies #Scilla & so much more #blooming on a sunny day. #Hope #bloomscrolling #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb

Zoomed in view photograph-taken by amb-of some of a nearby Wild Cherry tree’s branches, which are dotted with clusters of lovely white blossoms. Each year this tree is covered in blooms bees love - although this year the flowers seem to be a bit fewer than usual. That could be due to the dramatic spells of bad weather we’ve had since last Spring-from heatwaves & drought last Summer to literally months of flooding rains in late Autumn thru Winter. In a few weeks, once the blooming is done, these delicate white petals will be fluttering all over the place, landing in many peoples’ back gardens, including our own. For now, they look beautiful, so full of Spring’s promise, against a glorious blue sky. Yesterday was the warmest day we’ve had since last October. And today we’re meant to be experiencing more of the same. So fortunate.🥹 With the world in such a catastrophic mess, it’s natural & so easy to be weighed down by fear & sorrow. For now, we must find some measure of comfort & solace in the fact that trees-and indeed many wild (& planted) flowers on the ground-continue to burst forth with Spring’s Life and beauty. It’s these gifts of Nature we could so easily take for granted that we must cling to & appreciate while we can. Despite the madness of insane “leaders” actions - which, yes, we need to stand up to & DEMAND: NO MORE WAR!! - there is still Beauty & Hope in the rebirth of Spring. 🙏for Peace but also trying to remember to be grateful for what Nature continues to give us with every single tree & flower that still lives & blooms; for every bee, bird, butterfly, snail, slug, worm - so many living creatures around us…Every single one of these is such a blessing…We cling to the Hope they represent, thankful for what we do have. Please Garden for Wildlife, however you can. Theirs is a World worth saving…🥹~tamisar💞

Wild #Cherry #tree in #bloom Clusters of white #flowers along its branches show up beautifully against a brilliant blue sky. This tree is part of a nearby #hedgerow & its #blossoms & eventual fruits benefit 🐝&🐦 #garden #Spring #Hope #Garden4Wildlife & Please🥺🙏: #StopTheWar ❤️‍🩹☮️💚~💞 #photography -amb

It’s not the loveliest of photos, yet seeing this umbrella-shaped top of our Winter-flowering Honeysuckle shrub/tree is at least heartening after such a bitter, dreary, rain-filled winter. This was taken on a day when we had an almost clear blue sky. (There’s a few smidges of white clouds visible behind the stems & branches on the lefthand side & middle of this picture). The stems that seem to be interweaving with the Honeysuckle are sprays of our Cotoneaster plant, which have tiny ovate leaves along them. Although they seem to be mixing with the tree, it’s an optical illusion due to where the photo was taken: in fact they’re not touching the Honeysuckle branches at all. Both plants are key for wildlife in our small back garden: the Cotoneaster creates a climbing frame for a wild white Rose bush-open Roses great for bees. The Cotoneaster will also produce red berries-loved by Blackbirds-in Winter. The Honeysuckle starts Winter with tiny white flowers (shown in a previous post) which attract even tinier insects during the coldest months-great natural food for birds. In Summer small birds find shelter & bugs in it. We also hang some buggy-suet-filled coconut shells from its branches. These are favourites of our smallest visitors: the adorable Long-tailedTits. Please Garden for Wildlife, however you can💚🙏~tam💞 Our Music for St. Patrick’s Day won’t be what many🇺🇸ppl associate with today. We’ll be listening to Iarla Ó Lionáird‘s solo album Foxlight, as well as music he made as vocalist for the Irish group The Gloaming. We were thrilled to hear that Oscar-winning Irish actress Jessie Buckley named one of The Gloaming’s songs among her Desert Island discs she’d take if stranded on a desert isle. Desert Island Discs is a long-running radio show in🇬🇧where famous ppl are asked about their fav music, etc. In fact the track by The Gloaming- “Samhradh Samradh” (Summer, Summer)-was her Most Favourite. And Iarla sings on it🥰 It -& Foxlight -are streamable…& so beautiful💚

#Green #Spring -the top of our Winter-flowering #Honeysuckle sprouting #leaves against a blue sky. This #shrub -now a small #tree -provides shelter & food for #garden #birds & shade in Summer. Good to see🍃again💚 #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb
#Music 🎵Iarla Ó Lionáird-solo & w/group The Gloaming🎵

Extreme closeup of two little purple Violas. Around a tiny white/yellow centre there’s deep purple, fanning out to lighter shades on their front three petals, before becoming dark purple again at those petals’ edges. Each has 2 solid deep purple petals at the back, almost velvety looking. These little flowers are surrounded with various leaves from other plants in our small front garden. In fact, the straight “stripe” of matte light green all down the right side of this photo is actually the edge of a tall, firm tulip leaf (their sturdy leaves always come up before the blooms appear). Violas and Pansies may be small flowers, but both provide much needed pollen and nectar for overwintering bees (as well as nibbles for 🐌 & slugs, which we do not discourage, as they are vital living creatures to the garden’s ecosystem). Please Garden For Wildlife, however you can.🙏~💞

Closeup of two #Violas in our #garden They look similar to Pansies, but are smaller #flowers Both kinds are still #blooming having 1st been planted months ago in what then was bare earth. Now-as our previous post shows-the patch is full of #Spring #blossoms #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb

This may look a chaotic mess of plants…and it IS that. But it’s a wonderful mess of Life returning to what had become of it when our once loved russian sage plant suddenly took over, smothering the whole plot in shoots & keeping anything else from growing. We’d only ever had russian sage-whose scented leaves smelled great & had flowers bees did love-in a container back in🇺🇸. But given a patch here, over time it spread roots underground, destroying almost the whole front patch with a blanket of smothering shoots. After much hard digging-which couldn’t even begin till we finally got rain after months of drought-bulbs that had been suppressed were pulled out & stored. Purple & white Pansies & Violas were planted over Winter. Our hardy Hellebores are up, their pink, down-facing blooms also welcome sources of nectar for overwintering bees. Now, in this photo, long strands of Grape Hyacinth leaves spillover everywhere in the foreground, with many little cluster-spikes of tiny purple blooms scattered amidst them. White Hyacinths have come up blooming again & the long, flat leaves of Tulips have shot up, too, so we’ll see those eventually. At least 2 types of Daffodils have bloomed (which we already posted photos of); also In this mix are also Wild Strawberry plants-which provide small fruits birds love; & many wildlfowers-to-come. Out of sight here is our Queen of Sweden Rose bush-which is at the centre of the plot & just sporting a few leaves (it’s early yet & besides, those roses are for beauty & scent only, unfortunately-too tight for bees). Also unseen here, woody stalks of Buddleia (Butterfly bushes) at the back, which are sprouting as well. Yes, it’s a chaotic mess-we never tried for one of those perfectly neat gardens. This is a small bit of our Gardening For Wildlife. All that matters is that we have as many things as possible growing thru the year to help feed bees, other pollinators, butterflies, snails, slugs & birds…& sometimes, we get some beauty, too~💞

#Life Last Summer this wee #garden suffered drought, was overrun by invasive russian sage-wh/meant digging everything out/saving bulbs/leaving bare ground. Over Winter Pansies & Violas were planted. Now it’s full of #flowers & returning #blooms #Hope #Spring #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb

Extreme closeup of tiny Scilla flowers, which have 6 pointed petals that splay out, star-like, curling over a bit at the end. Their whitish centres have a yellow cluster of stamens sticking up a bit. Their stems are dark purple. These two flowers are surrounded by some (blurred, textured) Forget-Me-Not leaves. The Scillas’ leaves are actually the thinner leaves in this photo, taken by amb. 🙏 Garden For Wildlife. Every flowering plant you can offer may provide much needed nectar and pollen to bees & other pollinators so important to the ecosystem. Habitats are rapidly disappearing, but a balcony, small patio or sturdy set of stone steps can be a setting for potted plants that do wildlife a world of good - much needed lifelines at a time when so much of suburbia is being turned into paved, gravelled or - even worse - fake grass backyards, devoid of Life. Please Garden For Wildlife - they need all the help you may be able to give them. From bee hotels to highly placed bird-boxes (keep both out of direct sunlight) you could make a real difference. Wildlife need water, too - even a dish, kept clean & refilled with fresh water daily - helps, especially if you’ve no place for a bird bath. Another tip: any bird bath or dish of water you do set out can use a stone or two for birds to be able to climb in and out of the water. ~💞

#Scilla These #flowers may look big but this is closeup of very tiny 6-petalled star-shaped #blooms These 2 are purple w/white towards the yellow-tipped centre, wh/sticks up a bit. Very good for🐝these #blossoms come in many colours & we’ve a few in our #garden 🙏 #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb

Two white hyacinths in full bloom in a faux-terra cotta pot, sitting on our small patio. Hyacinth flowers grow in clusters on a stalk. They’re shaped like small trumpets, their petals curling outward at the ends. Hyacinth leaves are broad, thick and matte-finish green. The long, stringy leaves spilling over from this pot actually belong to Grape Hyacinths (yet to appear in this pot, but flowering in a nearby one. Grape Hyacinths aren’t actually Hyacinths at all - something we mentioned & gave a link to in a post with a photo of ours recently). But both are great for bees and other pollinators, as they’re nectar rich flowers, especially appreciated in the cooler days between late Winter & early Spring. Please Garden for Wildlife🙏. As you can gather, even a potful of flowering bulbs can prove a much welcome resource for bees, particularly solitary, over-Wintering ones. ~💞

From #buds to #blooms Awhile back we posted a potted white #hyacinth in bloom beside a 2nd still a cluster of green buds. Now that 2nd one’s full of #blossoms too & the 1st is still going😊. Lovely to see these fragrant #flowers -food for🐝& #Hope for #Spring #garden #Garden4Wildlife #photography -amb

Our Japanese Quince ornamental shrub in flower, its bright red, five-round petalled blooms - with yellow centres/stamens - abundant along woody branches with small, round green leaves. A great plant for bees, butterflies & other pollinators, this ornamental quince does bear fruit later in the year, but we were told it’s not edible. Even wildlife don’t bother with its round yellow fruits when they do appear, dropping onto the ground. From what We’ve since read, the fruit may be edible after all, although it sounded as if complicated measures must be taken to make anything edible/non-poisonous from it. None of that matters to us, as we are glad just for its colourful flowers, which feed the bees, etal this time of year. This shrub was one of few plants already in the back garden when we moved here, although it had not been looked after. With care, this & other plants have flourished. In the coming months it becomes part of a dense little “hedgerow” against our fence, which Sparrows dart in and out of. So not only does it feed the bees with its bright red blooms, it becomes part of good cover for small birds, as well as drawing tinier insects on which those birds do feed. A very woody & thorny shrub, it has spread naturally & needs to be trimmed from time to time or it will easily overtake other plants. Please Garden For Wildlife, however you can🙏. photograph by tam’s partner. ~💞

wounded the World wept
till rivers overflowed and
all the flowers bled
-tam💞
#haiku #poetry #WarPoetry #StopTheMadness #IllegalWar

Japanese Quince #shrub #blooming against the fence in our small #garden Inedible fruit but its #flowers are great for🐝! #photography by tam’s partner #Garden4Wildlife 🙏

Against the background of a clear blue sky, branches of our Winter-Flowering Honeysuckle tree are sporting plenty of small white flowers…but also beginning to show leaves too, which follow the blossoming & will eventually provide plenty of cover for birds. The flowers are tiny, but so valuable to birds & solitary OverWintering bees. We hear them humming! At this time of year solitary Queen bumblebees seek pollen to fill the niches where they lay an egg before sealing it in with mud. If you happen to have the kind of Bee House which shows the sides of its solo chambers, you can witness this marvel taking place. The pollen gathered this time of year is vital to ensure each Bee’s egg will have plenty of food to get thru the many months it takes them to grow into adulthood. But these tiny Honeysuckle flowers also attract wee insects on which many of the smaller garden birds feed. Also in this photo-taken by tam’s partner-sprigs of a wild Cotoneaster plant are on the lefthand side, their ovate leaves distinctive. The Cotoneaster has proven a valuable frame upon which a climbing white rose shrub-out of sight in this photo-will gradually grow & flourish. That rose too will hopefully have plenty of nectar rich roses come Summertime. For now, we’re glad to see these tiny Honeysuckle blooms, as they play such an important role in our little garden’s ecosystem. Please Garden For Wildlife, however you can. Even a pot of flowering plants-watered & dead-headed to keep it flowering-can help bees, butterflies & other creatures. If you do put up a bee hotel, try to place it out of direct sunlight. The same goes for bird-boxes, which should be placed as high up as possible-at the very least between 5-6ft up, to protect nesting birds from predators. Really the best advice for bird care can be found on the RSPB’s website, which also sells bird boxes appropriate for different birds, as they have different needs. As habitats disappear, all Wildlife need any help you can give them.🙏~💞

Branches of Winter-Flowering #Honeysuckle #blooms against a blue sky. These white #flowers may be tiny, but carry much needed #pollen this time of year. 🐝 &🐦both benefit enormously from these at this time of year. #blossoms #bloomscrolling #garden #photography by tam’s partner. #Garden4Wildlife 🙏

Several “spikes” of beautiful, purple/blue Grape Hyacinths, which have finally come up through their plethora of long, flowing, thin green leaves (which appear first). They are bulb plants which will self-spread. These may seem small, but they pack a lot of lovely nectar-rich punch for bees & other pollinators. Photo-bombing the right side of this photo - taken by tam’s partner- is a spray of tall, wide, matte-finish leaves of another bulb plant that’s yet to bloom: Tulips. Even the smallest of blooms can help Wildlife, from bees to moths, worms, slugs, snails & birds (who’ll feed on the invertebrates & small molluscs mentioned). Please Garden For Wildlife, however you can. As we say so often, even potted, flowering plants can do so much to help many creatures whose habitats are rapidly disappearing as man continues to build over vast swathes of land.🪴🐝🦋🐌🪱🐦~💞

Grape Hyacinths- #flowers that are neither grapes nor hyacinths!😳🤔What these wee clusters of #blossoms are is great for🐝! Now #blooming in our sm. front #garden -each tiny flower holds nectar. About them: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscari
#Garden4Wildlife #bloomscrolling #photography by tam’s partner

In this photo-taken by tam’s partner-there’s a beautiful spike of white Hyacinths in full bloom. But right next to them-in the “foreground” of this pot if you will-is a pale green cluster of buds that will eventually open up to flower like the ones beside them. There are actually several various bulbs in this pot, all rescued when russian sage-a plant we had liked (& so did bees)-wound up invading all of our small front garden, taking over every inch of soil, preventing anything else from coming up. During the drought, it was impossible to stop their sprouting spread. But as soon as we had a bit of rain, the hard task of digging out every invasive shoot -& terribly tough, spreading roots-began. It left the front looking rather empty, but the sage had destroyed chances for so many plants to bloom. Whilst digging out the sage, bulbs of those plants were found, rescued & secured in our shed. Over Winter, many started to sprout! So they were placed into a pot of compost & are now starting to bloom on the back patio. These white hyacinths were 1st to appear, with their lovely, spray-like flowers open for any over-wintering bees. Beside this first spike is something we rarely see: hyacinths before they open: they’re all a pale green cluster of buds, a sort of “Before” picture of what’s to come. In this photo are also sprawling thin stems of some Grape Hyacinths-very different from the big type, as you’ll see in a future post. Their long, flowing foliage always shows up before their wee purple spikes full of tiny flowers. Both types of hyacinths are great for bees & other pollinators, as they’re rich with nectar those creatures need. What good fortune these bulbs were salvaged from the mess russian sage had made out front! Now the front is starting to show all sorts of fresh green & flowering Life-so much of it beneficial to bees. Please Garden For Wildlife, however you can. You don’t have to have a plot: as you can see here, bulbs will happily grow in a pot!~💞

Before & After: #Hyacinths #blooming & in #bud in a pot.
These #bulbs -along w/many others-were rescued when invasive russian sage was dug out fr/our front #garden They started to sprout while in our shed😃so were potted & are now producing #flowers #Garden4Wildlife 🐝🦋 #photography by tam’s partner 💞

A group of purple & white pansies, photograph by tam’s partner. One pale lilac petal sits at the top, slightly underneath four petals which are edged in purple, but which have dark purple spraying out across white, with tiny yellow centres. It’s the way their lovely design appears that really does give them a comical look. The two petals directly in front of the back one each have a splotch of dark purple on white, that, together, makes them look like a pair of angry eyes. The bottom two petals’ splotches of dark purple could be frowns-or even frowns under big moustaches! So while these wee flowers are lovely…they’re also a bit funny when you see how Nature’s design played out in colours on their petals. One could forgive them “frowning” seeing as their green leaves have been nibbled by 🐌s and slugs. Still, they’re a pretty sight amidst our small garden patch, which is slowly bursting with Spring Life. Tall, swirling, pointed leaves behind the pansies and in the upper right are the forerunners of Tulips. Small, tri-leafed greens with serrated edges are what will be Wild Strawberries-great food for birds, btw. There are some frilly looking stems of green at about “10 o’clock” to the pansies, on the left. Those are the first signs of what will be beautiful Love-in-a-Mist flowers, which have grown in one spot where tam’s partner had (harvested then) scattered their seeds at season’s end last Summer. Little bits of green Life are springing up everywhere through the leaf litter-much of which has already been munched & taken back into the earth by worms, which enriches the soil naturally. Even this small patch is a microcosm of Nature’s ecosystem, ever in flux & renewed by many creatures people think of as “pests.” Snails, slugs and worms all play a vital part in the cycle of Life. Please remember that & refrain from using pesticides🙏.Garden For Wildlife: from worms, other invertebrates & tiny molluscs to birds & beyond, they need our help, as habitats disappear. 🙏~💞

pinched purple faces
seem to frown yet round petals
cradle hearts of gold
~tamisar💞
#haiku #poetry #humour #bloomscrolling #flowers #pansies & many more promises of #Spring fr/our #garden #Garden4Wildlife #HoldOn even if you’re #snowbound #SpringWillCome …eventually🙏~💞 #photography by tam’s partner

This photo - taken on a rare blue sky day with just a puff of white cloud on the left - is the view up through the myriad branches of our Winter-flowering Honeysuckle tree. From a small planting, it has grown tall: enduring storms, pruning back of dead wood & many a bird’s & coconut shell-full of insect/seed infused suet’s weight over the years. Now it is shaped rather like an umbrella, providing both shelter for birds & as of this year again, bearing the weight of coconut shells- a much needed extra food source in bad weather, loved by the smallest birds: Long-Tailed Tits & Blue Tits. But this long-stading, ever growing survivor is, as its name says: Winter-flowering. In this photo, taken by tam’s partner looking up at the blue sky through the interweaving branches thick and thin, there are tiny white flowers dotting the slender wood stems. Small birds flock to these, too in Winter, finding natural food in insects that go to those miniature blooms, proving no flower is too small to make a difference to Wildlife, especially birds. These tiny white flowers come first…But in time the branches will begin to sprout green leaves, creating a wonderful, wide & dense parasol/shelter for small birds to both find food & to hide from birds of prey that circle the skies high above. 🙏 Garden For Wildlife, however you can. They need all the help we can give them, as natural habitats rapidly disappear… ~tamisar💞

Honeysuckle frame
criss-crossed branches laced with blooms:
window to the sky…
~tamisar💞
#haiku #poetry #poem #writingcommunity

#Nature #flowers #trees #blueskies #honeysuckle
#photography by tam’s partner #Garden4Wildlife

This free image - not our photo - shows two beautiful Swallowtail Butterflies in mid-flight above a green area of grasses & other plants. This pair are brown & white, with frilly edges to their wings - the white is a zigzag stripe design across the far edges, with spots of white along those delicately frilled edges. We’re not certain, so forgive us if we’ve mistakenly identified this variety, but we think these are Citrus Swallowtails. Butterflies need nectar from flowers & many species are disappearing rapidly due to humans building and paving over habitats, as well as the terrible effects of Climate Change. Please try to Garden For Wildlife. Planting Butterfly bushes-a.k.a. Buddleia -is one way to help them. Even if you don’t have a garden space, perhaps you have a stoop or a balcony? There are varieties of Buddleia that grow short & can thrive as potted plants. They’re known as Butterfly Bushes with good reason: their spikes (not sharp, just long clusters) of tiny flowers are nectar-rich and perfect for attracting & feeding butterflies (and bees, too)! Buddleia are hardy, growing wild in all sorts of places. In the UK, we see them all along railway lines, their seeds having been swept into the air along the way. If you can manage to plant a Butterfly bush-whether in a garden space or a pot-make sure to snip off spent spikes (making sure all the flowers in them are finished first, for even a few tiny blooms left still have nectar). By doing this-gardeners call this “deadheading”-you’ll encourage more growth & flower spikes. Garden & wild buddleia can grow very tall, so will need cutting back. There are many plant/gardening websites that can tell you how best to care for them, when to cut back, etc. But any nectar rich flowering plants can help these beautiful creatures, as well as bees…& they do need our help🙏❤️🦋~tamisar💞

A pair of Swallowtail #Butterflies possibly in a #courtship dance. Often we take🦋for granted. Please #Garden4Wildlife even if all you have is a🪴of flowering plants. #Love #Nature More about🦋: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly
#music 🎵Chopin’s Etude Op.25 No.1 in A-flat Major🎵as played by Lang Lang 🎹

Exquisite! I’d only seen artistic renderings of Speedwell until now, so TY for this gorgeous intro-view of a diminutive variety. Must ask my partner if we can get some Speedwell into our garden.🙏Looks🐝 friendly as well as lovely! Lisa, it’s clear you #Garden4Wildlife as well as food & Beauty!👏🥰💚

This glimpse of what’s a rapidly spreading vine of Periwinkles is full of more glossy, pointed green foliage than flowers. But the three little, pale lilac coloured blooms, which have 5 point-tipped petals making a star-shape - with white at the centre - are lovely against that vast green background. These vines are growing low, along the fence, in our small back garden and have actually crept in - a free gift, thanks to Nature - from the alleyway behind our house. They flourish like mad out there, so we will need to keep an eye on them or they’ll overtake as much space as there is to be had! Still, it’s nice to see such Spring-like colour on these barren, cold & grey days of Winter. My partner took this photo, as well as some others with more blooms on them. But this little trio looked loveliest. 🥰-tam💞

#Periwinkles -more #flowers braving #Winter in our #garden Out back, Periwinkles are spreading their glossy-green-leafed vines along our fence, bearing lovely, star-shaped, pale lilac #blooms w/white centres. But we’ll need to keep them in check! #Garden4Wildlife #photography by my partner. -tam💞

Closeup photo-taken by my partner-of a cream-coloured, five-petalled Hellebore flower. As buds, they are a roseate pink-and there are several of those yet to open nearby. But once they do blossom, the roundish petals of this variety are mostly cream-white, with some tinges of pink & even pale green on one petal, which has a tiny hole and a curved out area that show snails and/or slugs have been having a nibble. No worries: not only are there more flowers about to open, the important part -for bees, that is- will stay intact in its greenish yellow centre. These Hellebores were planted years ago (we also have ones that do open to be a dusky rose colour). They’ve continued to bloom -and spread- each Winter and will do so for months to come, providing a much needed source of “food” for overwintering bees & pollinators. Amazingly hardy, they’ll even last thru a coating of snow (brush them free after). At present, it’s turned very cold where we are, yet Life continues to appear & give Hope. These grow in our tiny front garden. Periwinkles are blooming wildly in our small back garden (photo to come in another post). We’re also seeing the first bright red Quince flowers start to appear-waiting for more of them to open before we try for a photo. Garden For Wildlife-especially in Winter, when they need help more than ever. Plants like these & other Winter-flowering varieties are such a boon. We’ve also upped the bird feeding a bit with more buggy suet pellets & coconut shells full of suet, bugs, etc: just the kind of extra energy birds-especially the smallest-need to survive the cold. (Note: We do take coconut shells down overnight, to keep from luring unwelcome vermin- i.e. rats). Please Garden For Wildlife, however you can. In a world increasingly built over-with habitats rapidly disappearing-bees, butterflies, pollinators, birds & so many forms of wildlife (that includes snails & slugs-vital to ecosystems) need all the help we can give them, however we can. 🙏 ~tam💞

#Christmas #Rose - not what you’d think of as one, but this part-nibbled #Hellebore is a.k.a. A Christmas Rose & #blooming on the day. We’re not worried about🐌/slugs nibbling: there are plenty of pink #buds waiting to open yet. Great #flowers for overwintering #bees #Garden4Wildlife