Cornfield Annuals: Preparation

It was another blustery day yesterday with winds gusting to 40 mph and above, but we were lucky to avoid the occasional shower and had the benefit of spring sunshine. With such a good turnout of volunteers we were able to quickly complete the appointed tasks. A small area of the Triangle was cleared of surface vegetation and this will allow some of the perennials that are particularly valuable to wildlife to flourish at the back while providing a seedbed for our signature cornfield annuals alongside the paths.

Charlie also came by to see how the work was going and greet his friends.

Then the top border beside the path to Ross Avenue that we had cleared in early January was raked over and sown with a seed mix of cornfield annuals saved from last year’s flowers. The mix contained Poppy, Corn Marigold, Scentless Mayweed and Corn Cockle. Some seedlings had already germinated in the border from seed shed from the earlier flowerings. Hopefully they are also primarily of the cornfield annual mix and they will produce colour and flowers for pollinators a bit earlier than the new sown seed.