Heligan Wildflower Seeds

The much loved series “Devon and Cornwall” returned to our screens last night as the team joined Head of Gardens and Estate – Alasdair Moore within the 15 acres of wildflowers at The Lost Gardens of Heligan.

For those of you feeling inspired to create your own wildflower haven at home, our wildflower meadow seed mix can now be purchased online by clicking here.

The yellow flowers are corn marigold, the blue flowers are cornflower, the white are corn chamomile and the little bit of pink/purple are corn cockle. You’ll notice the word “corn” is linked to every flower. This is because all of these plants are traditional cornfield annuals. Before the use of herbicides became widespread, they would have been present in arable fields, growing through crops and very much viewed as weeds by farmers. As annuals, these plants flower, set seed and die every year. In order for them to flourish, cornfield annuals require soil disturbance in the autumn or spring for their seeds to germinate and the young plants to grow without too much competition from other plants like grasses. This is why naturally they favour ground which is regularly cultivated, such as a cornfield.

As well as being beautiful, the wildflowers provide nourishment for bumblebees, solitary bees, honey bees, butterflies, moths and a whole host of other pollinators. Pollinators perform a vital role in our ecosystem and they also help provide us with fruit and vegetables, like tomatoes, strawberries, broad beans and cucumbers. Having lost 97% of our wildflower meadows since 1939, our pollinator populations are in serious decline. These fields are part of Heligan’s efforts to support pollinators and to promote the biodiversity that keeps us all alive.