Description
We all know our native bees are in decline but there is a little something you can do to help! By giving your guests these wildflower seeds that bees love, you are helping to encourage them to your garden and do a little something towards stopping the decline. Without wildflowers and other nectar-rich flowers, our bees don’t stand a chance. Hopefully such a wedding favour will encourage your guests to grow more wildflowers not just to help the bees but also our butterflies and other insects that are in decline.
This Save the Bees wedding favour seed packet measures 9 x 12 cm and is personalised with your wedding details – please let us know the text in the personalisation box above. The packets are made from 100% recycled white paper. The seeds inside (in a paper sachet, not plastic and foil) are grown the UK and contain only British native species – Selfheal, Lesser Knapweed, Ox-eye Daisy and White Campion. Sowing instructions and seed content are printed on the back of the packet.
But these seed packets are not just for weddings, we can personalise them with any text or add a logo and so on. If you are not using the packets for a while, that is not a problem – the seeds are viable for a few years, just store them somewhere cool and dry out of direct sunlight.
By giving your guests these seed packets you are helping the environment and our declining bee and butterfly populations – grow the love and Nature will love you back!
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
