Description
Beetle Mix Wildflower Seeds by Seedball
Beetles are often overlooked as pollinators but these interesting and pretty minibeasts are just as important. From the beautiful Ladybirds to the aptly named Swollen Thigh Beetle, these colourful beetles are common visitors to our gardens and allotments and all work to pollinate plants in the course of finding food, shelter and a mate.
Some beetles provide other services to the gardener with controling some other insects such as predators of Aphids or include detritus in their diet especially as larvae making them good compostors. Beetles can be small and brown to irridescent or brightly coloured. These little jewels of the garden, like Butterflies, love flowers with a “landing pad”, so flat flowers like the Yarrow or Cornglower are ideal. Tubular flowers with nectar are also important and all of these flowers will attract a range of pollinating species from beetles to bees, hoverflies to butterflies.
Seedballs are easy to sow and grow, they make seed sowing much easier for children and people with limited hand movement. Simply scatter the Seedballs from the Beetle Mix Seedball tin in a sunny spot where you want them to grow and give them a good water. Keep an eye out for the seedlings and keep them moist but not wet until they start to grow. If you want more control or want to make a wildlife container, or teach your little ones, you can sow 3 to 5 seedballs in a pot, give them a water and keep them moist but not wet and watch them grow in to tiny seedling and into beautiful plants.
Sowing Times – Outdoors in Spring or Autumn for best results
Flowering times – Spring to Late Summer
Plants from later spring sowings will flower later than described
Wildlife value – Valuable sources of nectar for pollinators.
The Main Plant Species Included
A mix of beautiful native wildflowers to prime your garden for pollinators. Each seed ball contains approximately 30 seeds from a mix of:
- Common Knapweed
- Cornflower
- Cow Parsley
- Field Scabious
- Foxglove
- Great Burnet
- Yarrow
Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)
Perennial.
Height: 30-80cm
Flowers: July to September
Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)
Annual.
Height: 90cm
Flowers: June to August
Cornflowers are edible. They have a cucumber-like taste. Flowers can be consumed in the form of salad and tea, or used as a garnish.
Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris)
Perennial.
Height: 50-150cm
Flowers: May to July
Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis)
Perennial.
Height: 30-60cm
Flowers: August to September
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
A tall biennial (flowering stem grows in the second year) with pink and purple flowers on spikes.
Height: 60-150cm
Flowers: June to September
Toxicity: Poisonous if eaten
Foxgloves are a really good ‘bridging plant’ as they bloom late May-June, a period when the bulbs have finished and the summer perennials are yet to be at their best!
Great Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis)
Perennial
Height: 40-80cm
Flowers: July to August
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
A perennial aromatic herb with white flowers arranged in a many flowered flat umbel head.
Height: 8-60cm
Flowers: June to August
Yarrow is a common herb that has been highly regarded for its medicinal properties in Britain since Anglo-Saxon times, it is said that Achilles used this herb to treat the wounds of his soldiers.
Recycling
The Beetle Mix Seedball tin is ideal for reusing for keeping seeds and small bits and pieces or can be recycled at most recycling centres.
All our wildflower seed is for garden use only, not for scattering in the wild.
