chives and phacelia

Jayne over at Composting Childs was commenting on the scarcity of insects in her garden.

There's no doubt that the cold spring killed many of our insects. But populations are resilient if we can give them help.

We do need to 'think insect' and consciously plan for their needs.

Here we have flowering chives. Chives are, of course, a useful kitchen garden plant, but when in flower are very popular with bees.

We had planned to plant leeks into this bed but the ground was bare and so sowed phacelia at the end of April.This is just coming into flower. A big red tailed bumble bee was buzzing its approval.

We shouldn't let our green manures flower. Their stalks become woody and can only be composted rather than being dug in or used as a mulch.

But hey, who cares? The bees don't!