Meadow Magic workshops will be starting soon to be held at a venue of your choice. The workshops are an hour long and no prior experience is required to attend. The cost of a workshop is £25 plus travelling and other expenses for the trainer if the workshop is held outside London. River of Flowers is a social enterprise company and all profits are used to create urban meadows and raise the profile of wildflowers.

Planting Mini Meadows

Aims
To identify a selection of up to 10 native wildflowers attractive to a range of bees and other insect pollinators
To plant these wildflowers in a small container
To describe the cultural and medicinal aspects of these wildflowers

Content
This is a hands-on, practical session where you will learn to identify, describe and plant a selection of native biennial and perennial wildflowers attractive to bees and other insect pollinators. The wildflowers are suitable for growing in urban spaces and have been selected because of their rich nectar and pollen content. Some types of wildflower are very suitable for growing with food.

The session will guide you through preparing the containers, planting with an Urban Meadow Mix of biennial and perennial plug plants including some of the following plants Birdsfoot Trefoil, Black Meddick, Cowslip, Field Scabious, Harebell, Lesser Knapweed, Meadow Buttercup, Musk Mallow, Oxeye Daisy, Red Campion, Red Clover, Vipers-Bugloss, Wild Marjoram, Wild Mignonette, Wild Strawberry and Yellow Toadflax. We will also look at the value of planting cornfield annuals such as Cornflower, Corn Cockle, Corn Chamomile, Corn Marigold, Field Forget-me-not and Field Poppy.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, you will be able to:
• Identify selected wildflowers planted in this session
• Plant a small biodegradable box using plug plants and seeds
• Describe aspects of the selected plants in the urban environment and the cultural context

Recommended Reading
Really Wild Flowers         Healing Foods
The Wild Flower Key by Francis Rose & Clare O'Reilly (Warne); New Generation Guide to Wildflowers of Britain and Northern Europe by Alistair Fitter (Collins); Britain’s Wildflife: Plants & Flowers (Readers Digest); Grow Your Own Drugs by James Wong (HarperCollins); 100 Great Natural Remedies by Penelope Ody (Kyle Cathie Books); Nature's Medicines: A Guide to Herbal Medicines and What They Can Do for You (Readers Digest); Flora Britannica by Richard Mabey