All products are handmade on the Isle of Skye using high quality ingredients and carefully thought-out recipes. I’m proud to say that products are palm oil and cruelty free, containing no parabens.
Where possible raw materials and packaging is sourced directly from the United Kingdom, this is to minimalize our eco footprint and support home grown businesses within our country. Packaging and wrapping is eco-friendly, and on occasion I even up-cycle packaging from suppliers to reduce waste even further.
Clean & Pure Soap have chosen to support environmental issues, primarily Bee Conservation. Since 1909, twenty bee and wasp species have gone extinct in Britain.
With every purchase you will receive 1g of Native British Wildflower seeds. The UK has experienced extinctions and declines in abundance, biomass, destruction of insects. Of the 2430 insect species assessed by Natural England, 55 have gone extinct and 286 (11%) are threatened. It is thought intensive farming is suspected to be one of the main contributing factors, along with losing 140,000 miles of hedgerow, 40% ancient woodlands and a horrifying 97% of wildflower meadows since the Second World War.
Read more here: UK Insect Decline (parliament.uk)
WHEN TO SOW YOUR WILDFLOWER SEEDS
Spring or Autumn is the optimum time for planting your seeds. Keep an eye on the weather, avoid sowing around the time of frost or drought. 1g of these 100% wildflower seeds will cover approximately half a square meter. This mixture has a combination of Annual and Perennial Wildflower seeds.
FLOWERING PERIOD
Annual species sown in Spring will bloom 8-10 weeks after sowing, Annuals sown in Autumn will bloom the following summer. Perennial species begin to flower the second year after sowing, if managed correctly these flowers will return year after year.
GROUND PREPERATION
Prepare pots or a bare seedbed in advance of sowing, free of weeds, grass and other plants so that the wildflower seeds don’t have to compete with other plants. This step is essential to establish wildflowers successfully.
SOWING
- Lightly dig over and rake the soil to crease a fine, firm seedbed.
- Shake seed packet and mix the seeds with a carrier is using over a large area, then scatter over seedbed.
- Lightly rake, roll or walk over the area to create good seed to soil contact. The aim is to push the seeds into the soil rather than to bury them too deep.
- Water lightly and take care not to wash the seeds away
MAINTENANCE
Cut the plants back to 7cm in height after flowing in the autumn. Remove the cuttings to keep soil fertility low and to not smother emerging plants. DO NOT apply fertiliser or plant food.
I would love to see pictures of your wildflowers once in bloom, if you can capture a picture with a bee then that would be really fabulous. Please send any pictures to contact@cleanandpuresoap.co.uk
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM YOUR WILDFLOWER MEADOW
Year 1
Most meadow mixes contain a mix of annual and perennial wildflower species. The annuals (plants that complete their lifecycle in one growing season) will grow up in the first year after sowing and bloom. Depending on your seed mix, expect to see cornfield annuals such as bright red field poppies and sky-blue cornflowers, as well as white corn chamomiles and mauve corncockles. These annual species will dieback with the first frosts at the end of a long flowering season.
Year 2
Now the perennials that were putting down strong roots and growing stalks and leaves last year are starting to flower. But even in year 2, it’s only the fastest growing perennial species which will bloom. Expect to see an abundance of white ox eye daisies, a vigorous grower and often the species which dominates a meadow in its second year. You might be lucky enough to see some splashes of colour from last year’s annuals that have self-seeded.
Year 3
This can be a less floriferous year as the daisies retreat and other perennial species are still maturing. Expect to see more of a mix of colours arriving in your meadow as other perennial species start to flower.
Year 4
Now your meadow is in full swing with a diverse mix of perennial species in flower from May through to September. With the correct management (mowing in late summer / early autumn every year and removing the clippings) you can expect your meadow to get more and more species-rich with every passing year.
Now you can sit back and enjoy long summers full of abundant and beautiful wildflowers; your species-rich meadow bustling with wildlife… it just took a little patience.
NEWS
I was recently interviewed by one of my favourite suppliers MicaMoma and am now featured on their website. You can read the interview here.