Summary
IN A month or two's time, bright yellow poppies will start appearing in front of all the cottages on the road where I live. I could talk about what an amazing job they do in providing continuity to the landscape, but this isn't the visual art column. I love them because they are cheerful and indestructible. Legend has it that the seeds were distributed by a former resident while no one was looking. Think of the bit in The Great Escape where the prisoners got rid of the tunnelled earth by shaking it down their trouser- legs. We're talking about that level of subterfuge. And once sown, these poppies just keep on blooming.
When it comes to wild flowers, beauty is most definitely in the eye of the beholder. One woman's prize specimen is another's weed. The first time I sowed a wild-flower mix in my garden, my father-in- law shook his head, warning me that I'd never get rid of them. My mother-in-law took me to one side and told me how she'd always dreamed of having that sort of ramshackle cottage garden. And you should have seen it: a riot of flowers, most of which I couldn't identify, but which the bees absolutely loved.See the full content of this document
Extract
Wild at Heart
In eco-living terms, wild flowers are a good idea. They create and improve habitats for bumble bees, moths, butterflies a...
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