Plant of the Month - Wildflowers
Last year’s ‘lockdown’ was, for many of us, a chance to pause and reflect including the members of Marden in Bloom. Marden Parish Council had kept an area of Southons Field ‘wild’, allowing the grass to grow long and it was this that became the trigger for an inspirational new idea: a wildflower meadow area in the field providing a haven for wildlife and a biodiversity box ticked. So…in March 2020 Peter Hall came and assisted by turning over the patch of land. At first, the ‘bloomers’ tried to dig out manually all the remaining grass as well as the first layer of soil below. After a few weeks of hard work during Lockdown, sore, aching backs revealed the enormity of the task and luckily Maidstone Borough Council’s ‘Go Green Go Wild’ campaign came to the rescue with a couple of grants: one grant paid for a contractor with a digger to remove the remaining grass and topsoil (phew!) and the other grant provided seeds and plug plants. The result…a beautiful expanse of wild flowers that has changed as the months have emerged.
Of course, there has been much trial and error (the Yellow Rattle has not come up and the Ox-eye Daisies have been too dominant) but that is part of nature and it is a wildflower area. There is much to celebrate: the Kidney Vetch, for example, provides the sole food source for the UK’s smallest butterfly (the Small Blue/Cupio Minimus). The seeds of the blue cornflower provide food for the birds and it is sobering to discover that this plant, present in the UK since the Iron Age, has declined rapidly over the past 50 years. The Red Campion that can still be seen attracts hoverflies, butterflies and long-tongued bumble-bees. The Yarrow/Achillea Millefolium deserves a special mention as it produces much nectar for (wait for it…) birds, bees, hoverflies, the caterpillars of the Essex Emerald, Lime Speck Pug, Wormwood Pug, Straw Belle and Ruby Tiger Moths as well as attracting Large Skipper, Small Copper, Wall, Meadow Brown, Small Heath and Peacock butterflies. At the moment, you can see the beautiful architectural flower-heads of Queen Anne’s Lace (Wild Carrot) towering delicately over the Lesser Knapweed and purple Betony. It is well worth a visit; the abundance of insects that can be seen there reminds us of how we need to create wildflower meadows so thank you Marden in Bloom!
When you visit over the coming year, look out for the different plants that can be found there and see how many you can spot: Wild Primrose, Red and White Campion, Ribwort Plantain, Corn Poppy, Germander Speedwell, Foxgoves, Cornflower, Ox-eye Daisy, Kidney Vetch, Betony, Lesser Knapweed, Queen Anne’s Lace, Teasel, Yarrow, Red Clover, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Musk Mallow and Self-Heal etc! If you spot any others, please let us know.