The wet weather in May and June has brought out a good crop of clover and meadow flowers for our local farmers. Praise be the hay making will produce some juicy animal feed and the fields have looked particularly good.

Good Clover for Gardeners

• Clover can be used as a green manure if you have a large patch in your garden. Grow it then dig it or rotovate it back into your soil.
• Green manure acts as a good soil conditioner increasing the humus content.
• Clover adds or fixes nitrogen into the soil via its roots.
• Clover is a beneficial weed because it attracts good insects particularly species of wasp, which do not sting but do eat aphids. Bumble bees will also be attracted in to your garden.
• Red or white clover can create a green, low-maintenance lawn or groundcover as it did before herbicides were used in great quantities to manicure lawns.

There are circa 250 species in the genus Trifolium or Clover aka Trefoil of which Trifolium repens is the common white variety.
Trifolium rubens is a hardy perennial clover sold as seed by Thompson & Morgan who say it is a ‘soft to the touch flower spikes of dusky pink which bees love and can been used as cut flowers. The mid green leaves are unusual and almost resemble peanut foliage.’ seeds at Thompson & Morgan