Bee-ing Busy

The garden is all abuzz, with bees, and butterflies, lightning bugs and ladybugs.

All so very busy dutifully distributing the pollen amongst the flowers.
I thank them more than words can say.

 

 

 

 

 Like trains of cars on tracks of plush
I hear the level bee:
A jar across the flowers goes,
Their velvet masonry
Withstands until the sweet assault
Their chivalry consumes,
While he, victorious, tilts away
To vanquish other blooms.
His feet are shod with gauze,
His helmet is of gold;
His breast, a single onyx
With chrysoprase, inlaid.
His labor is a chant,
His idleness a tune;
Oh, for a bee's experience
Of clovers and of noon!

~ Emily Dickinson : The Bee (1830)

 

 

 

 

History Will Be Kind To Me, For I Intend To Write It.

Sir Winston Churchill, the great leader and politician, loved butterflies.
So much so, he bred them at his family home in Kent, England.

Churchill's love of butterflies began when he attended prep school in the 1880's.
In 1924 Churchill bought Chartwell near Westerham and he lived there until the end of his life.

Chartwell was re known for it's magnificent views over the Weald of Kent.

In 1939 just as the storm clouds were gathering over the world, Churchill telephoned leading butterfly breeding expert L Hugh. Newman for advice on setting up a butterfly house.
Sadly, the second world war prevented him realising his dream, but after the war he converted his summerhouse into a butterfly house.

He also sought advice on which plants to grow to attract butterflies and planted buddeia borders.
Visitors to Chartwell can follow in Churchill's footsteps along his butterfly walk where the borders may be the oldest surviving examples of such planting in the country.

The gardens attract species including the Common Blue, the Meadow Brown, and the Gatekeeper. All butterflies that are bred, are found naturally in the area.

Photos courtesy of BBC