Where Have All the Flowers Gone?: Restoring Wildflowers to the Countryside

A traditional meadow full of wild flowers is a rare sight today but it is not too late to restore them and to create new ones. Charles Flower is passionate about restoring the countryside. After the appalling destruction of the 1970s and 1980s he pioneered practical methods of wild flower restoration on his own farm, where he grows wild flower seed crops and runs restoration workshops. We have been through many painful years of seeing our meadows destroyed but Charles Flower has proved that it is possible to plan for diversity, harvest seed, propagate it and create new meadows, woods, hedges and ponds so that wild flowers can be successfully re-established not only in the countryside but also in our gardens, thus ensuring a supply of nectar over a long period – from the woodland primrose in March through to fleabane in the wet meadow in September – that will entice back countless butterflies and other insects.

This book is full of practical detail amassed by someone who has devoted all his energy to good management of the countryside for over twenty years. It recounts the story of how he has helped restore the flowers – and thus ensure the return of wildlife – to numerous gardens, farms and estates, a story documented by glorious photographs that cannot fail to inspire.

Contents: 

• Where have all the flowers gone?
• Wild flowers – an integral part of rural life
• The traditional hay meadow
• Planning for bio-diversity
• Carvers hill Farm – the story of the farm
• Getting hold of the seed
• Creating a wild flower meadow
• Establishing and managing the meadow
• Propagating wild flowers
• Saving our cornfield annuals
• Restoring wild flowers to the hedgerow
• Restoring wild flowers to ponds
• Restoring wild flowers to woodland
• The response of butterflies to a little help
• The response of birds
• Giving wild flowers a helping hand