Have We Reached Peak Wild Flower?

 & #WowOnWednesday

Dear friends. A few years ago, municipal flower beds, certainly in the UK, were filled with bedding plants in straight lines. Wild flowers were classed as weeds. But ever since the 2012 London Olympics, the trend has swung round to wild flowers, sown with abandon. 

The Tower of London has embraced the trend and this year's Superbloom event has encouraged thousands of people to meander along the moat, filled not with water but with a mix  of annual and perennial wild flowers. 

We went to see the wild flowers this week - it was a family day out with John's two sisters and his brother, who all live locally. 

The flowers were probably at their best a few weeks ago, but successive planting means there are always new plants to admire.  

Below: left to right, John's sisters Kate and Susan, me and sister-in-law Yvonne 

The backdrop is the stunning and iconic Tower of London. Building started in 1078 and was completed in 1100.  Approaching the Tower always gives me a tingling feeling:  I think of Anne Boleyn being rowed to the Tower in a small boat, awaiting her fate of being beheaded. 

There's a fascinating juxtaposition between the ancient Tower and the modern skyscrapers around it. 

After a pleasant meander through the pollinators and wild flowers, we were snapped with Tower Bridge behind us. 

I was dressed for comfort as I was in London for the day and was going on to an art exhibition and finally an early dinner. I wore my white denim skirt, sleeveless V neck top in Hawaii and belt by Kettlewell, and Nike trainers. 

Growing Your Own Wild Flowers

It's not easy, as anyone who has randomly thrown seeds around their garden will probably know. The flowers can quickly be overcome by too many grasses.  And the biggest challenge is that wild flowers prefer poor quality soil.  Most of our gardens have been richly fertilized with compost.  

To achieve the wonderful wild flower meadows of the 2012 London Olympics,  (see John's picture below), the mix was perfected over two years of trial runs in 2010 and 2011. The meadows needed a horticultural haircut known as the "Chelsea chop" in late spring to set back the plants and ensure everything was in flower in late July, rather than in May, June and early July, when they'd naturally bloom. 

Pot marigolds (Calendula officinalis), tickseed (Coreopsis tinctoria) and corn marigold hybrids (Chrysanthemum segetum) combined to create the designers' hoped-for "ribbon of gold" around the stadium.

If you want to try it yourself, it's easy to get boxes and packets of wild flower seeds. Sow during March and April or in September, depending on soil conditions. On lighter soils, autumn-sown seeds generally germinate and establish quickly, although some will not come up until the following spring.

Prepare your area of choice by starving the soil of nutrients or by selecting an area already deficient in nutrients or disused. You can help to reduce soil fertility by stripping away the top 5-10 cm of soil. Remove weeds and make sure seeds are watered.

To convert a lawn, strip away the top layer of lawn turf using a turfing iron or garden spade. Compost the turf and dig out 10cm of soil below the layer of grass, to reduce the soil fertility and the germination of invasive weed seeds.

We recently enjoyed a spectacular little wild flower patch which a volunteer had planted in the adjacent road, on a verge. 

Have you been growing wild flowers?  Do let us know in the comments. 

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Fashion, growing your own wild flowers, Lifestyle, Superbloom at the Tower of London, wild flowers at the 2012 London Olympics