Wondrous wildflower strip of cornfield annuals – poppies, corn marigold, cornflowers plus phacelia which is highly favoured by bees and other pollinators.
Most crops rely on insect pollination by species including bees, hoverflies and butterflies. Flower-rich habitats across the farm such as wildflower strips along field margins, clover and herbal leys for grazing livestock, species-rich chalk grassland and cornfield annuals in organic arable farmland not treated with herbicides provide valuable shelter, nesting and foraging areas for pollinating insects and the wealth of wildlife that depends on them.
This AB8 Flower-Rich Margins Mix from Hurrells is brimming with pollen and nectar rich UK native wild flowers and fine grasses. Once this brilliant burst of colour is over, this wildflower strip remains vital source of food and shelter. Stems and old flower heads left to die back naturally may not be as obviously beautiful as the bright flowers that preceded them but farmland birds will feast on the seeds and many insects will over winter in old stems.
