Description
We are so excited to be working with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust to raise funds for the amazing work they do to help our bees! In association with them, we have created recycled seed packet charity wedding favours – for each packet of seeds sold, 20p goes to the Trust. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is a science-led organisation, and leads the UK’s only standardised abundance-based survey of a major pollinator group – BeeWalk – with many sites monitored on a monthly basis through the flight season. They keen to collaborate on bumblebee projects, especially conservation-related, and regularly support under and post-grad students as well as working with academics from universities and research institutes across the UK. The Trust also proviodes a wealth of information on bee species and gardening for bumblebees.
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust was established out of concern for the serious plight of British bees. They have a vision for a different future in which our communities and countryside are rich in bumblebees and flowers, supporting a wide diversity of wildlife and habitats for everyone to enjoy. The charity is a registered charity, No 1115634, Scottish Charity No SC042830. 2022 saw the charity celebrating 17 years of helping our bees!
There are currently 24 species of bumblebee in Great Britain
These charity wedding favours are made from quality, 115 gsm, recycled manilla paper and contain only British-grown seeds of British wildflower species that bees love – Selfheal, White Campion, Ox-eye Daisy and Lesser Knapweed. The front of the packet is personalised with your wedding details (please advise in the box above) and the back of the packet has the sowing instructions and seed content details. The seeds are viable for a few years so if you are not using them straightaway simply store them somewhere cool and dry out of sunlight.
We have some involvement with the Shorthaired Bumblebee Reintroduction Project (part of Bumblebee Conservation Trust), who have successfully reintroduced to Kent the previously extinct Shorthaired Bumblebee:
We love bees – let’s help Bumblebee Conservation Trust save them!
About the Seeds
White Campion
This pretty wildflower is found open wasteground, hedgerows and meadows. It produces a proliferation of white flowers from May to September – great value for money!
Latin name – silene latifolia
Height – 90 cm
Habitat – semi-shade or sun
Perennial
Flowering time – May to October
White Campion is also a popular moth plant, attracting Marbled Coronet, Marbled Clover and Sandy Carpet moths.
Selfheal
Selfheal is low-growing, often found in lawns and grassland, meadows and road verges in the wild, growing in patches of purple. In folk medicine it was thought that Selfheal was good for treating sore throats because its flower head resembles a throat. Also known as All-heal and Carpenter Herb, among many others.
Latin name – prunella vulgaris
Height – 20 – 30 cm
Flowering time – June to October
Perennial
Habitat – sunny
Particular bees that love Selfheal – bumblebees and honeybees.
Lesser Knapweed
Hardy perennial and member of the Daisy family, found on cliffs and grassland. It has deep-pink, many-petalled flowers opening out from a hard bud. Grows to 65 cm (25.5 in). It is tolerant of coastal conditions and fairly drought-resistant. Flowers all summer.
Bees are very attracted to Lesser Knapweed! The plant attracts butterflies – particularly Tortoiseshell and Painted Ladies, Satyr Pug, Silver Y and Lime Speck Pug moths, and birds like the seeds. Other butterflies – Comma, Silver Washed fritillary, Marbled White, Meadow brown, Ringlet, Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Silver Spotted Skipper, Chalkhill Blue, Adonis, Brimstone.So, all in all, a very useful plant for pollinators!
In folklore it is claimed that if a maiden picks a flower, removes the expanded florets and places the flowerhead inside her blouse for an hour, if the unexpanded florets have blossomed when the plant is removed then she will soon see the man she is to marry.
Was used in medieval times to treat vaginal bleeding and cancer. Lesser Knapweed root can be made into an ointment to treat cuts and bruises. Please note – this is for info only, always consult a qualified herbal practitioner before using!
Latin name – centaurea nigra
Height – 65 cm
Perennial
Habitat – sunny
Flowering time – May to September
Ox-eye Daisy
As the name suggests, this wildflower has yellow and white daisy flowers – but these are bigger than your common lawn daisy! Very common on roadside verges, meadows and grassland. Another prolific self-seeder, if you leave the flowerheads on after flowering is over, you will have Ox-eye Daisies everywhere the following year! Hoverflies and beetles also particularly love Ox-eye Daisies!
Latin name – leucanthemum vulgare
Height – 60 cm
Perennial
Habitat – sunny
Flowering time – May to September
Particular bees that like Ox-eye Daisy – short-tongued bumblebees, solitary bees (such as mining bees – Andrena, Colletes and Halictus species) and some small black stem-nesting bees, such as Hylaeus species