The Urban Meadow at National Museum Cardiff is a little haven for pollinators in the city centre. On a summer’s day it is teeming with bees, hoverflies, grasshoppers, ladybirds and craneflies. 

Monitoring the meadow, and managing it for wildlife, is vital to make sure it continues to provide an environment where these creatures can thrive. Mowing too frequently, or not removing ‘problem plants’ like brambles and trees, could damage the harmonious interplay between different types of plant.

This year, with help from Greening Cathays and support from the National Heritage Lottery Innovation Fund, we’ve been trialling new methods of surveying the plant life so that Volunteers and non-specialist Museum staff can help us keep track of the meadow biodiversity. This will help us to manage the meadow in the future.

As well as contributing to our understanding of the meadow, our staff and volunteers have reported the well-being benefits of working outdoors:

“If I could, I would stay out here all day, it’s such a nice environment to be in”.

“I feel like I’m doing work – but it doesn’t have the stress of work. It’s the perfect balance”.

Staff and volunteers have also felt more motivated or confident to get involved outside of work:

“I have patch of grass at home, I’m now on a mission to rewild it. I really want to know how to do that, I feel more motivated now I’ve seen what can be there”.

"It’s quite empowering feeling you've recorded data that will be used, makes me want to get involved in more things like this".

What did we find?

On the Urban Meadow plants such as Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare), Lady’s Bedstraw (Galium verum) and Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) add colour to this part of the city every summer. The appearance of the meadow changes subtly throughout the season, depending on which plants are in flower.

Several native grasses, including Meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis), Cock’s-foot (Dactylis glomerata) and Timothy (Phleum pratense) grow on the meadow.  However, we do not want the grasses to outcompete other species.

The vegetation surveys demonstrated that, although the meadow is relatively small, there is a mosaic of plant communities, reflecting small-scale differences in environmental factors.  For example, we found that one corner of the meadow is damper than the other three corners and a charmingly named grass called Yorkshire-fog (Holcus lanatus) has dominated here. 

To let other flowering plants, which attract insects for pollination, have some space to grow we are going to invite staff to help with sowing seeds of Yellow-rattle (Rhinanthus minor) this autumn. 

This annual plant is a parasite on grasses (Poaceae) meaning it gets nutrients by penetrating the roots of the grass, and restricting the its growth. Many meadows may need an application of Yellow-rattle seed this autumn because the grasses have coped better with the hot weather than the smaller brightly coloured plants. The Yellow-rattle seeds are sown in the autumn because they need to sit in the soil during the winter and experience the cold to germinate. The yellow flowers appear in spring, followed by seed pods which ‘rattle’.

We will also create training opportunities for staff and volunteers to help with scything the meadow to get the ground ready for the next year.

The Urban Meadow hasn’t just been an opportunity to increase biodiversity at National Museum Cardiff, it has helped people too. Cultivating a wildflower meadow takes years but is a testament to the resilience and ever-changing charm of the natural world. We hope to continue working with staff and volunteers to care for our meadow, for the benefit of people and plants.

Annwyl Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

Dyma un o fy hoff adegau o'r flwyddyn! Bydd ysgolion ledled y DU yn gadael y dosbarth i blannu bylbiau fel rhan o Ymchwiliad Bylbiau'r Gwanwyn i Ysgolion. Anfonwyd bwlb crocws a chennin Pedr ar gyfer pob disgybl yn y dosbarth rhestredig i'w blannu ar 21 Hydref (neu'r dyddiad agosaf posib). Edrychaf ymlaen at rannu eu lluniau gwych hefo chi. Rydym yn cynnal Cystadleuaeth Ffotograffiaeth Diwrnod Plannu bob blwyddyn, felly gwyliwch y Blog Bylbiau hwn i weld y delweddau buddugol a dilyn @Professor_Plant ar X/Twitter i weld yr holl luniau gwych yn cael eu rhannu!

Mae gennym lawer o adnoddau digidol ar y wefan. Mae rhai yn benodol i'r ymchwiliad ond mae'n bosib addasu rhai ar gyfer eich ysgol hyd yn oed os nad ydy'ch yn cymryd rhan eleni. Dyma'r adnoddau sef yn addas at gam hwn o'r ymchwiliad:

Cam 1: Paratoi i plannu (dechrau mis Hydref)

Cam 2: Diwrnod plannu

Cam 3: Gweithgareddau ymarferol dewisol i wneud a'r tywydd a garddio

Cystadleuath Bylbcast

Hwn yr ail flwyddyn i ni gynnal y gystadleuaeth Bylbcast. Mae hon yn dasg hwyliog a chreadigol y gall dosbarthiadau gweithio ar drwy gydol yr ymchwiliad. Gofynnir i'n wyddonwyr ifanc gynllunio, recordio a chyflwyni fideo byr yn archwilio eu hoff rannau o'r ymchwiliad. Mae adnoddau i gefnogi'r dasg hon ar gael fan yma, a bydd yr enillwyr eu cyhoeddi cyn diwedd y flwyddyn academaidd. Alla i ddim aros i weld beth mae'r meddyliau creadigol eleni  yn cynhyrchu. Tybed faint o ysgolion fydd yn sôn am ddiwrnod plannu yn eu ceisiadau?

Anfonwyd adnodd newydd i'r ysgolion sy'n cymryd rhan eleni, calendr hwyliog sydd wedi'i gynllunio'n arbennig i helpu'r dosbarth i gofnodi eu data tywydd a blodau. Mae hyn yn cynnwys dyddiadau pwysig ar gyfer yr ymchwiliad a strwythur arfaethedig ar gyfer trefnu'r casgliad data. Gall athrawon ddewis i rannu eu dosbarth yn bum grŵp, sydd i gyd yn cymryd eu tro i ddogfennu a uwchlwytho data'r tywydd. Y gobaith yw y bydd hyn yn helpu i berchnogi'r ymchwiliad i'r plant. 

Edrychaf ymlaen at rannu datblygiadau ddiweddaraf yr ymchwiliad hefo chi. Rwy'n gobeithio eich bod yn dathlu'r Diwrnod Plannu, wrth i ysgolion ledled y DU ymuno â'i gilydd i blannu dros 18,000 o fylbiau yn y weithred gyfunol hon ar gyfer natur. Gwaith Gwych Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn! 

Athro'r Ardd

Dros Wyliau'r Haf dyma ni'n lansio bocsys teganau synhwyraidd yn Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd. Mae 5 bocs, wedi'u hysbrydoli gan y casgliadau a'r orielau. Datblygwyd y bocsys er mwyn cysylltu ag ymwelwyr iau, a gwellau eu hymweliad drwy chwarae synhwyraidd. Mae'r bocsys ar gael mewn pum oriel, ac yn llawn gwrthrychau sy'n cyfateb â'r orielau – bywyd gwyllt y goedwig, bwyd y môr, deinosoriaid, a chelf hanesyddol a modern.

Yn y bocsys mae amrywiaeth o deganau a llyfrau i blant o bob oed ac anghenion. Pan nad oes cyfle i gyffwrdd gwrthrychau yn y casgliad, mae adnoddau synhwyraidd yn gyfle i blant ddysgu drwy chwarae, a gall hyn danio sgwrs rhwng y cenedlaethau am y casgliadau.  

Rydyn ni'n annog ymwelwyr i chwilio am y 5 bocs a rhannu unrhyw adborth a lluniau gyda ni ar @Amgueddfa_Learn ar X.

Mae'r flwyddyn academaidd newydd wedi dechrau'n dda. Mae'r Athro'r Ardd a'i gynorthwywyr hapus wedi pacio a dosbarthu 175 o becynnau adnoddau i ysgolion ledled y DU.

Mae'r pecynnau hyn yn cynnwys popeth sydd ei angen ar ysgolion i gymryd rhan yn yr ymchwiliad eleni:

- Pot a bylbiau ar gyfer pob plentyn sy'n cymryd rhan

- Mesur glaw a thermomedr i gofnodi data tywydd

- Calendr i gadw cofnodion tywydd a blodau

- Talebau i brynu compost heb-fawn

- Cynllun Tymor hefo dyddiadau allweddol ar gyfer y project

- Pot gwahanol i gymharu defnydd

- Bylbiau dirgel i ddysgu am wahanol blanhigion 

Ar 21 Hydref (neu'r dyddiad agosaf posib) mae ysgolion yn cael y dasg o blannu eu cennin Pedr  a bylbiau crocws. Dyma'r cam cyntaf y bydd ysgolion yn ei gymryd ar gyfer natur fel rhan o'r project.  Dilynwch y blog hwn a'@Professor_Plant ar X/Twitter i weld y lluniau sy'n cael eu rhannu wrth i ni ddathlu'r plannu torfol hwn.  Bydd @Professor_Plant hefyd yn rhannu diweddariadau rheolaidd gan ysgolion, a gallwn ddathlu gyda nhw pan fydd eu planhigion yn dechrau blodeuo!

Yr adnoddau cyntaf sydd eu hangen ar ysgolion sy'n cymryd rhan yw:

- Bylbiau'r Gwanwyn i Ysgolion: Canllaw i athrawon

- Cam 1: Paratoi i plannu (dechrau mis Hydref)

- Cam 2: Diwrnod plannu

Gall pob ysgol ddilyn y prosiect a gallant ddefnyddio'r taflenni gwaith ar y wefan.

Rwy'n edrych ymlaen at rannu'r gwaith y mae ein Gwyddonwyr Gwych yn ei wneud gyda chi.

Athro'r Ardd

When it came to writing this article, my thought space had been taken to the theme of journeys; the unknown ground between a beginning and an ending. My journey as a young producer for Bloedd’s latest project, an LGBTQIA+ oral histories exhibition, has been a nearly yearlong one. What began as conversation in a shared space containing mutual interests and passions, defined the nucleus of my work here. The beginnings of this time had been an unpacking of what we felt as a collective was important to represent for an upcoming exhibition. We knew from the jump that we wanted to represent voices that may often go unheard; those whose experience may not be recounted upon by the mainstream perception of what it means to live an LGBTQIA+ life. 

Moving away from the typical portrait of queerness being a thrown brick in protest, that while important, we are more than our fight for freedoms; our stories can be found in the everyday, in the places we visit, the jobs we keep, the people we love and share our lives with. The given name of this exhibition, Ours to Tell, came only after we had completed our collection of stories, the self-described journey we undertook over several months of visits and interviews, holding dialogue with well over fifty years of experience. But what is in a name? Ours to Tell is a reclamation. It’s our way of saying “here is a story, told by a firsthand account of the storyteller”. It’s our way of saying “these words are cut from a book hidden away in the attic of my mind. I’ve ventured into the attic, and I’m dusting it off for you.” It’s our way of saying “this is where I come from”. 

While the journey of this project has been underpinned by a great deal of planning and preparation, what you can’t prepare for is what you might uncover in someone else’s story. You commit to the routine of presenting a series of questions, from you to the storyteller, with only a table between you. It comes as a surprise the level of detail, which is excavated by the storyteller, they are like a hoarder being handed a stepladder, invited to dig up their stowed away possessions from the attic. Your questions are prompts: “when did you first see your identity reflected in someone else?”, “what does a safe space look like to you?”, the list goes on. The exciting part is that you don’t know what’s coming next, and you are there, alongside the storyteller, who guides you through a journey which may well bring up a familiarity or nostalgia for the listener. During these times when I’ve had the great pleasure to listen to these stories, I can confidently say that I have felt every kind of emotion in response. I laughed. I have cried. I have been moved. I have been taken on a journey.

Enabling the participants of this project to confidently speak about their experiences has proved an undeniable joy, though I cannot understate how this project has affected those coordinating its launch. Fellow young producer Joss Copeman, like me had been drawn to this exciting opportunity, Copeman’s “personal work is largely centred around queer narratives and themes of identity and the self.” The journey which unfolded from Ours to Tell has been greatly beneficial, as it pertains to young LGBTQIA+ creatives and makers, taking inspiration from unheard voices, now affected and transformed by echoes of their experience. This is a feeling I know will resonate with the audience, and I can only hope it will stir others in future, to share what might be put away, gathering dust in the attic. 

I’d like to conclude with a quote that shook me like a cat in a tree, “Art is not just for oneself, not just a marker of one’s own understanding. It is also a map for those who follow after us.”

Written by Ivy Kelly, Amgueddfa Cymru Producer (Bloedd).

Bloedd is the platform for youth engagement at Amgueddfa Cymru.