Wildlife Gardening

Murmur of bees in the garden. What a glorious sound!  These days we read so much about their decline.  On a walkabout of the garden noticed these plants were attracting the most. Lungwort (Pulmonaria), a shade-loving plant with its bluish-purplish flowers and blotched leaves is constantly visited by bumblebees.

Another good one for the bees is Aubrietia (Aubrieta, Rock cress). Loves a sunny area spilling over a wall.  Named after Claude Aubriet, a French botanical artist.

Must pass the yellow-flowered Mahonia aquifolium (Holly-leaved mahonia) shrub several times a day just to savour its sweet scent and listen to the buzzing bees. A native of Taiwan it is named after the Irish American plantsman, Bernard McMahon.

Chaenomeles japonica (Japanese quince) seems to attract plenty of honeybees. Unusual to have red flowers in garden now.