Planting a wildflower meadow
I planted a wildflowers instead of a lawn and every year the meadow attracts swarms of butterflies and insects.
At the end of the summer the seed heads feed the birds too. I've had a charm of goldfinches feeding here along with linnets and yellowhammers. My resident colony of tree sparrows also really enjoy it.
My wildflower meadow acts as a larder for my wild art subjects
A larder for the birds
I'm hoping this new 'larder' outside my living room window will feed this population over the winter and provide me with plenty of new painting models at the same time. Some of my best compositions, like the goldfinch feeding on a thistle head and the wren on a bracken frond below, are of birds feeding on seed heads.
Jenny Wren | Limited Edition Print | Buy Here
And insects
Meanwhile the butterflies in the meadow, including marbled whites, are also excellent art models. On one occasion I counted 40 marble whites in just 20 minutes! Most people's living rooms look out onto a nice neat lawn, but I look on to a meadow of wildflowers. I like to think it is not just a beautiful backdrop but also a working environment.
Sow in early spring
It took a bit of work to get it established and looking back it now seems a long time since the cold spring day I first sowed this mixture of seeds and even longer since I gathered the seeds from the banks in my gallery car park! I also spent a lot of time preparing the ground. The seeds were sown in what is actually a very thin layer of soil covering 400 tons of solid chalk which had been dug out when my new studio was built.
Among the many species that have taken are wild carrot, red clover, ox-eye daisies, horse shoe vetch, self heal, yarrow and greater knapweed.
Wildflower art backdrops
These flowers have also been useful as studies for so many backdrops in my paintings. Below I have posed a hare against harebells and, later in the summer, I chose mayweed for a backdrop.
Hare in Wildflowers | Limited Edition Print | Buy Here
Hare in Mayweed | Limited Edition Print | Buy HereThis fox and its cub also looked perfect posed against dandelions.
My hedgerows and shrubs are also native, wild varieties and they play host to a wide variety of birdlife, including a bumper brood of rare tree sparrows and the long tail tits, featured in the painting below.
Tree Sparrows | Fine Art Print | Buy Now
Long Tail Tits on Blackberry | Fine Art Print | Buy Now
Watch the film
To see the results, watch this short film featuring the wildflower meadow in my garden.
7 comments
[…] Click here to see my collection of paintings featuring wildflower backdrops […]
[…] Click here to read about how I planted the meadow and see more of the paintings it inspired. […]
[…] Click here to read about how a wildflower meadow I planted in my garden has been the inspiration for… […]
[…] And more recently I planted a wildflower meadow at the front which has really teamed with insect life. Click here to find out how this meadow is now a year-round larder for the birds. […]
[…] It’s been a long hot summer and so I thought this painting of a hare in a clump of mayweed expressed the mood perfectly. The grass is so dry at the moment, but the wild flowers are thriving! Click here to read about how I planted a wildlflower meadow in my garden to provide me with inspir… […]
Beautiful photos, and I love the hares!
Wild meadows look so much better than mowed lawns. Your Goldfinch painting is just great. I also love to paint small passerines among the weeds and wildflowers.