4,000 bulbs planted!
For the second year running, the little group that calls itself WEP (Wycombe Environment Projects) has got out on its hands and knees and made a little corner of Wycombe all set for a bright and cheerful spring.
This year they planted 1,000 crocus, and 3,000 daffs. This was a mix of yellow and white, and slightly shorter than the conventional yellow daff, because they are better for pollinators. And that is what this project is all about - helping our pollinators.
Pollinators are a group of insects that include bees, butterflies, moths and flies, that all do vital work by picking up pollen from one flower, and taking it to the next, so that the flower can set seed. But they don’t do that for free - nature knows that there has to be something in it for the little insect to make them undertake such a vital service. They feed on the nectar that the flowers make, which is what attracts them in the first place.
Bees turn their nectar into honey, but there are many many different types of pollinators, in addition to bees - and there are many different types of bees too. Only a small fraction of them are the honey bees that live in bee hives.
As soon as spring starts to warm up, pollinators need to get out and about, gathering nectar, pollinating as they go - but they often can’t fly very far between feeding stations - and across urban areas they can find that they simply don’t have enough stops to re-fuel, and, well, there’s no nice way to put this, they die en-route.
So planting these early spring flowers ensures that there is nectar available in this part of Wycombe to feed our all-important pollinators. We need a patchwork of different flowers on different seasons to support them from the spring to the autumn, all across the town.
Pollinators are vital in agriculture. We wouldn’t have apples, for example, without pollinators doing their wonderful work. And with fewer flowers in the countryside too, they need all the help they can get.
This year WEP planted at the top of the Pastures, at the junction with Hughenden Avenue. Last year the planting took place on the other side of town, near John Lewis. For a few years before that the group distributed packs of wild flower seeds, as part of the bee-squared project - just enough seed in each pack for one square metre of flowers - getting pollinator refuelling stations all across the town.
A few weeks before the planting took place, the group hand delivered leaflets to the surrounding houses, letting them know what the plan was, and inviting them to take part. Thanks go to Red Kite for letting the group plant on land that they manage, and for funding the bulbs. It’s a great partnership that intends to keep going for many years yet.