Bees a buzzin'

My front garden has been awash with alliums, its 'Purple Sensation' and is a real star for me at this time of the year. I feel like this garden has been getting better each year as its gets tweaked a little bit each time, its also got masses of purple and white aquilegia, white sweet rocket, Persicaria bistorta, the frothy pink 'London Pride' and alchemilla mollis. I've added some dark purple leaved shrubs which are getting bigger each year and add further contrast, I've a dark leaved elderflower, a weigela and a purple cotinus. It was originally dark pinks and purples and I was encouraging the orange variety of the welsh poppy to seed around as a contrast but the pale pinks of the London pride and the Persicaria are taking over a bit now and maybe the orange doesn't work so that may have to go or maybe I'm being too tasteful!

I was sat on the grass in my back garden in the sun the other day and it was all a buzz with bees. How fortunate that some of my favourite plants are also loved by bees. The bees were fighting over the pendulous bell-like flowers of the Nectaroscordum siculum. If you look closely you can see a bee just entering the flower.

I blogged about a self-seeded cotoneaster last year which has tiny really inconspicuous flowers but is completely covered in bees.

They also love the Persicaria bistorta.

Another plant that self-seeds in my garden is Phacelia, a delightful flower which looks like a big hairy caterpillar.

Other bee-loved flowers out at the moment are some foxgloves, perennial wallflower which never stops flowering and some Sweet William which I grew from small plugs.
 So my bouquet this week has been...

Finally a curiosity, why and more importantly how did these snails get up here (if you look closely there are 3 here), this is the top of a holly bush which is about a metre and a half high, the only thing I think is they could be after is the bird food which is close by in the apple tree. But very odd!