BSBI Garden Wildflower Hunt - 4th Survey

It's just eight weeks since I did the first Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland #GardenWildFlowerHunt.  In that time, we have gone from Wood Anemones (Wood anemone) and the first skinny little bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) to swishing grasses and pea flowers of all sorts.

Swishing grasses on the North slope.

Many of the long grasses on the North-facing slope can now be identified. The Sweet Vernal Grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum) that I saw flowering on the second survey (25th April) has been joined by Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), Tufted Hair Grass (Deschampsia cespitosa), Red Fescue (Festuca rubra agg.), Yorkshire Fog (Holcus lanatus) and Smooth Meadow Grass (Poa pratensis).

White Clover (Trifolium repens)

In the back lawn, the creeping buttercups have been joined by white clovers (Trifolium repens) and the hum of bumblebees feeding on them.

Common Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).

Yellow pea flowers of all sorts have been appearing such as tiny Black Medick (Prunus spinosa) and the much showier Common Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) and Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis).

Heath Speedwell (Veronica officinalis)

The early speedwells have given way to the the delicate, lilac Heath Speedwell (Veronica officinalis).

Corncockle (Agrostemma githago) flowers towering over modern wheat.

The flowers and grasses mentioned so far arrived under their own steam. I planted Corncockle (Agrostemma githago) seeds, given to us by a neighbour some years ago. Every year, I shake the big, heavy seeds into the garden and they have kept going ever since. This year, I added some wheat to make more of a cornfield environment for them and was amused when I realised that modern wheat was much shorter than the old varieties and so, the Corncockles just towered above them.

Combining my four counts, I have recorded 93 wildflowers of which:

• 69 probably occurred naturally in our garden
• 24 were sown or planted.

Holy Cross Churchyard Plant Survey - End of June

On the 24th of June, I recorded the plants in Uckfield's Holy Cross Churchyard for the Sussex Botanical Recording Society's Churchyard survey. As the weather was miserable on the day I did the survey I returned on the 1st of July to check some IDs and take some photos. This is my third visit, the first two being at the beginning and end of April. 

I've already recorded over 80 species and it was good to see some properly out in flower, like the Bird's Foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) shown below.

Bird's Foot Trefoil.

I heard a buzzing and took a closer look at the bee pollinating the flowers.

Common Carder Bee on Bird's Foot Trefoil.

I was intrigued by the writing on the gravestone. The weather-worn letters were difficult to read but I could make out ...

 

THOMAS BROOKE ...

.... Uckfield ...

 

WHO DIED FEBRUARY 3rd 1876

....

Blessed are the pure in heart

... shall see god.

Thomas Brooke may have been a tailor on Uckfield High Street or one of his family.

Nearby a White-Tailed Bumblebee was foraging in the hedge alongside the churchyard.

White-tailed Bumblebee on bramble flowers.

Some of the plants I recorded are those little weeds that are so familiar that we hardly even see them. Identifying them obliged me to take a proper look at them.



Distinguishing between Willowherbs by comparing the share of the stigma (central female part).

The Collins Wild Flower Guide has keys that help me pick my way through different types of similar flower. The two Willowherbs I found were:

• on the left, with an undivided stigma, is Square Stalked Willowherb (Epilobium Tetragonum)
• on the right, stigma has four lobes, is Hoary willowherb (Epilobium Parviflorum).

The big, showy Evening Primrose flowers are a complete contrast to the dainty little willowherbs. Surprisingly, there are members of the same family.

Large Evening Primrose.

I thought that an evening primrose would be straightforward to identify but, again, there are several different species.

Red speckles on Evening Primrose stem.

The red speckles on the stem and other details helped me identify the plant as Large Evening Primrose (Oenothera glazioviana).

Yellow seems to be the colour of June. Another yellow flower that I added to the list was Smooth Hawkweed (Crepis capillaris)

Smooth Hawkweed.

Another plant we take for granted is grasses. I found a few more to add to my list including some that had escaped the mower because they are inside the metal railings around plots.

False Oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius)

I'm sure that the Goldfinches and House Sparrows that I have seen in the churchyard will appreciate the seeds.

I finally managed to identify the large fern by the door as a Male Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas). I find ferns very difficult to identify. This time, my trusty plant guide directed me to inspect the spores and the edges of the leaves.

Male Fern - underside of leaf showing spores.

One of my favourites this time was Yellow Fumitory (Corydalis lutea).

Yellow Fumitory growing on the church walls.

After this it was time to leave the memorials, birds and flowers behind and visit the Farmer Market.

A wild patch in an Uckfield garden

I'll confess that parts of our Manor Park garden are rather dishevelled. This is partly by design - we want a wildlife friendly garden. It's partly by accident - we don't always keep up with the weeding and tidying. This year, the late spring seemed to compress gardening time to just a few short weekends. One of the areas that has minimal attention is the wild patch. Usually I act as a referee between competing plants, so the more vigorous ones don't swamp the others and encroaching grass is kept firmly in its place. This year, I blatantly gave up.

The wild patch

The result is a riot of yellow common bird's foot trefoil and common St John's-wort, shocking pink bloody cranesbills, red valerian and many, many more wild and wildlife-friendly plants. The grass that I usually remove has added a golden fuzz of seedheads between and above the flowers. The wildlife loves it too. The patch is full of bees, beetles, moths and butterflies.  Some larger visitors nibble the vegetation and weave their way through the long grass.  In the last few nights we have had a visiting badger, deer and fox. The foxes and the badger seem to have made quite well worn paths in the long grass. The following photos show these animals slightly away from the patch because once they are in it, they are partly hidden from view.

A badger trundles across the slope just below the wild patch

A fallow deer browses for tasty plants.

A fox trots through the grass