Monday, 1 June 2009

June Corncockles

Whilst we were away on holiday in Norfolk plants got, well a bit out of hand in our garden. Weeds had popped up everywhere. But there was one surprise waiting in the garden when we got back...

Yep, the Corncockles which I planted myself have sprung into flower. Even now as I look out into the fading light in the garden, the flowers are still showing their bright colours. I must admit that pink isn't my favourite colour, but they are really a fantastic feature in the garden. I planted quite a few of them in rows and they are very close together. I realise I should have thinned them out before they flowered, but they seem to be doing ok.

I love the way they sway in the wind, as in the photo below:

Some of the flowers were just emerging with the June sun.


I have already seen a couple of bees on the corncockles and hopefully we will see some more, as well as some butterflies over the coming summer months. Moving onto more June colours in the garden, my dad just planted a Lavender shrub and a Veronica shrub. Hopefully, when a bit bigger, they will look a bit more natural and will fit in better with its surroundings. Below is the Lavender:

And a close-up of the flower.

And the Veronica shrub:
Dad's veg seems to be doing well at the moment, despite the best efforts of the local slugs, snails and caterpillars. Lots of watering needed in this hot weather though!


I think its incredible how much our plants have grown in the week we've been away. Over the coming week, I will probably update on our garden birds. If you watched Springwatch today or watched the Springwatch webcams, you will have known that many of the chicks in the nests they were following fledged earlier to try and cool down. It seems that the same behaviour is taking place in our garden when the birds have been visiting our feeders in the evenings to avoid the warm midday sun.

Just a quick note- if you missed any of my Norfolk holiday posts and you would like to read any of them, please click on the links below:

Norfolk holiday birds
Norfolk holiday plants
Norfolk holiday extras

This week, I'm doing work experience out of school at a local ranger service, who help to maintain important wildlife habitats in our area. More on that soon, but for now, have a good week.

6 comments:

Jayne said...

Beautiful garden flowers Joe. Hope the veg garden does well. :c)

Pam said...

Beautiful flowers, the birds here have been causing a riot in my garden early evening too. Good luck with the work experience, I would have loved to do something like that!

ShySongbird said...

Oh Joe, I'm so thrilled that you are going in the direction that interests you most, when you said on your previous post that you were doing work experience this week I was longing to know what it was! Every time I watch a wildlife programme on TV I say 'Joe will be doing this in the future', I know you will, and I will be so proud to say I knew you before you were famous!!

I love your Corncockles, they look beautiful and are obviously attracting wildlife already and I'm ashamed to say I've never heard of them!!!!

Joe said...

Hi everyone,

will reply to your commens properly later. I have read them though so thanks for posting them.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I have never seen or heard of corncockles. They are a beautiful little flower.

Joe said...

Hi Shysongbird,

Have only just got around to replying to your comment- sorry about that!

Thank you so much for your kind comments. Wildlife TV presenter sounds like a great career to me! I could say exactly the same about you!

My Dad hadn't heard of corncockles either when I mentioned them to him. Neither did I until I looked at the seed packet! :)