Ahead of Pride Month (June 1st – 30th), disruptive wildflower company Seedball is encouraging people to ‘scatter a rainbow’ to bring beautiful colours to their surroundings, while celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.
‘Scattering a rainbow’ not only shows people’s support of Pride Month, it also boosts biodiversity and wildlife in the UK, with wildflowers attracting insect and pollinator populations – including the beloved bumblebee. Growing wildflowers in a pot, a strip of lawn or in garden beds can help these vital insects survive and have a huge impact on our ecosystem.
Emily Attlee from Seedball said: “Pride Month is such an important time – it honours those who were part of the gay rights protests, paving the way for those of us who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, as Ana and I are. It allows us to celebrate how far we’ve come, as well as breaking down barriers that are still prevalent in our society today.
“Using wildflowers to create a rainbow – whether that’s in a garden, a window box or balcony, pays homage to the vital work that Pride propagates, while also bringing a splash of colour and encouraging a more diverse ecosystem, creating benefits for years to come.”
A great place to start with ‘scattering a rainbow’ is Seedball’s Set of 5 flowers, which covers off six of the seven colours of the rainbow. Red from the common poppy, orange from the oxeye daisy, pink from the red campion, violet from forget-me-nots and blue from cornflowers will bring vibrancy to any garden, while the greenery of stems adds a verdant touch. That just leaves purple, which can be brought to the garden through Seedball’s Shade Mix – a mixture of British native wildflowers which are ideal for the shadier parts of the garden. Beautiful bellflowers, with delicate purple flowers, form part of this seedball mixture, growing between 50-100cm and flowering between June and September – ideal timing for Pride.
Or, if people prefer to tailor their colour schemes for themselves, tins which feature shades across the spectrum are available from Seedball – from pretty pinks, vibrant reds, and many different shades of blue, violet and purple. Not only that, but people can choose varieties which welcome specific animals and insects, including hedgehogs, butterflies and, of course, the bumblebee.
Seedball started at founders Emily and Ana Attlee’s home, where they rolled seed balls by hand at the kitchen table and sold them at market stalls with the family dog, Rigby. Fast forward ten years and the couple now have a team of 30 people working from their headquarters near Finsbury Park, as well as three children and a second dog, Teddy.
Find out more about how Seedballs are made and how to use them on the website.