Donations to Quarndon Parish Council (QPC) are requested for the summer floral displays around the village, plus pollinator-friendly displays at Kedleston Grange.

The 2024 displays will feature:

• blooms mounted on the Quarndon signs on Church Road, Woodlands Lane and Burley Lane;
• three-tier 'flower towers' at the bottom of Church Road, near the water tower on Woodlands Lane, at the entrance to Barn Close, by the pillar box and at Park Nook;
• pollinator-friendly tubs at the Community Garden and by the Kedleston Grange roundabout and
• flower 'holsters' on the lampposts outside the school.

If you wish to donate by bank transfer, please make this directly to:

Account name: Quarndon Parish Council

Sort Code: 30-92-59

Account Number: 03328525

Reference: BLOOM24

If you would like to donate by cheque, please make this payable to Quarndon Parish Council, write on the back 'Blooming Quarndon 2024' and post it to: QPC clerk, Unit 108731, PO Box 15113, Birmingham, B2 2NJ.

Many thanks.

This fascinating survey gives helpful information about which plants are most bee-friendly, and what to plant to attract lots of pollinators.
The number of bees each plant attracts varies hugely, so this research helps anyone wanting to provide a helpful stopover for bees.
Bees get their food where they can. They don't mind what plant they feed on - both native and non-native plants - bring 'em on!

A variety of healthy plants will attract a wide range of bees.

Click on the link below for the survey, and have a look at Rosybees' home page, too, for more about helping our wonderful bees.

https://www.rosybee.com/research-study

If you wish to see earlier notifications please contact web@quarndon-pc.gov.uk

Quarndon in Bloom - Unexpected but Excellent News.

Quarndon has won the East Midlands in Bloom 'Best Entrance' competition this year. This is an award East Midlands in Bloom run every year, using things the judges have spotted whilst out and about, and which have specifically NOT entered East Midlands in Bloom.

Here are some photos of Quarndon in Bloom this year.

It is planned to have a summer display of flowers in Quarndon again in 2022. This year will be a little different because changes to the arrangements for annual structural testing, required by Derbyshire County Council, of all lampposts used to attach flower baskets have made it unaffordable to continue with any streetlamp mounted displays. Instead, we will be focusing of ground-based planters and baskets mounted where structural testing is not required. Full detail of what is proposed is included in the PDF Flyer below.

We need donations please by the end of March to fund the planned displays.

If you would like to see floral displays around Quarndon again in 2022,

please make a contribution.

Hairy legs, smelly feet, a white, buff or ginger tail, royalty… Early bees are already busy pollinating your garden.

The downloadable Garden Bees ID Guide below can help you to identify these early visitors.

And look closely at the wildflower areas already coming into leaf around the village, to see which bees you can spot.

Check out these links too to find out about adding more bee and wildlife-friendly plants to your garden.

And the smelly feet? Bees mark a flower already stripped of pollen and nectar with an oily substance, found on their body and feet. It signals to other bee visitors that they should try somewhere else for their delicious nectar.

The bees on the identification download are not to scale.

See there Butterfly Conservation site below for butterfly identification chart, and Royal Horticultural Society's site for helpful information on making your garden welcoming for pollinators.

https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org

https://www.bbka.org.uk. (British Beekeepers Association)

https://butterfly-conservation.org

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/wildlife-garden/wildlife (Royal Horticultural Society)

Click on the link below to download an illustrated information sheet about Montpelier's wild flowers.