Where Have All The Flowers Gone: Restoring Wildflowers To The Garden And Countryside

A beautiful but practical guide to bringing our gardens and the countryside back to life by re-introducing the wild flowers that used to provide food for birds, butterflies and other insects and were a constant delight to the human eye. 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. AUTHOR: Charles Flower is a consultant working with many individuals, farmers and landowners as well as the National Trust while running his own 175-acre farm in Wiltshire. SELLING POINTS: . An inspirational photographic record that will appeal to anyone interested in nature, wildlife, botany and preserving the heritage of the British countryside . Charles Flower is an expert in conservation and manages his own 25 acre hazel copse . Showcases a highly topical subject 283 colour, 27 b/w illustrations