A family walk around fields off the Alfriston Road
There is a track that runs out of Seaford from Alfriston Rd towards Alciston and passes the Last Wood, I think it’s called The Comp. When I visited with my family in early June the fields contained oil seed rape which was developing seed. My husband and grown up kids were very patient with me as I stopped every few minutes for a pic!
Flowers of the field margins
I’ve seen a lot of Common toadflax, Linaria vugaris, this year – it’s a lovely blousy plant. I’m not so familiar with Field madder, Sherardia arvensis, but the pale blue does tend to stand out, and I might have had trouble identifying it if I hadn’t seen it when out with the Wildflower Society in Eastbourne last year. The Wild carrot, Daucus carota, was some of the sturdiest I have seen, but easily identified by its central red dot. The Corn spurrey, Spergula arvensis, was new to me but confirmed using my copy of Rose followed by a trawl of web images.
I failed to identify the pale pink Brassica* which looked like it was the remains of a previous crop by the way it was spread about, but the nearest thing I could find was Hesperis.
As a bit of an amateur I also failed to identify the mayweed because I failed to sniff it at the time! I assumed it was unscented because it doesn’t look anything like the annual chamomile which grows in my garden.
![Common Toadflax linaria vulgaris Seaford fields June 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Common-Toadflax-linaria-vulgaris-Seaford-fields-June-2020-1024x768.jpg)
![field madder sherardia arvensis seaford jun 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/field-madder-sherardia-arvensis-seaford-jun-2020-1024x768.jpg)
![Wild carrot daucus carota Seaford fields June 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Wild-carrot-daucus-carota-Seaford-fields-June-2020-1024x768.jpg)
![Brassica crop Seaford fields June 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Brassica-crop-Seaford-fields-June-2020-1024x768.jpg)
![Lesser burdock arctium minus seaford fields Jun 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Lesser-burdock-arctium-minus-seaford-fields-Jun-2020-1024x768.jpg)
![Brassica napus crop Oilseed rape Seaford fields June 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Brassica-napus-crop-Oilseed-rape-Seaford-fields-June-2020-1024x768.jpg)
![corn spurrey spergula arvensis Seaford fields jun 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/corn-spurrey-spurgula-arvensis-Seford-fields-jun-2020-e1604000529786-1024x746.jpg)
![mayweed seaford fields jun 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/mayweed-seaford-fields-jun-2020-1024x768.jpg)
![oil seed rape field seaford jun 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/oil-seed-rape-field-seaford-jun-2020-1024x768.jpg)
Wildflower meadow between commercial crops
We came upon a wildflower meadow which was beautiful and bounded on two sides by shrubby banks. I don’t know the area well enough to know if it was artificially sown, but it was gorgeous.* In amongst various grasses I could see oxeye daisy, sainfoin, purple and yellow vetches and white clover.
![wilflower meadow sainfoin seaford jun 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/wilflower-meadow-sainfoin-seaford-jun-2020-1024x768.jpg)
![wildflower meadow vetch seaford sussex jun 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/wildflower-meadow-vetch-seaford-sussex-jun-2020-1024x768.jpg)
Hedgerow campion
Walking back along the outside edge of the wildflower meadow, along the hedge in the left of the above pics, there were two large patches of campion. I think both were Silene vulgaris as they were both about the same height and both growing in long grass, but the first was pure white, and the second had a touch of pink in the bladder.
![Bladder campion silene vulgaris seaford fields jun 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/silene-vulgaris-bladder-campion-seaford-fields-jun-2020-1024x768.jpg)
![bladder campion silene vulgaris seaford fields sussex jun 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/bladder-campion-silene-vulgaris-seaford-fields-sussex-jun-2020-1024x768.jpg)
Seaford in Sussex is my home turf and some of my posts about local wildflowers are tagged Seaford
http://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/tag/seaford/
I also have a blog about dried flowers and you can read there about why I have annual chamomile growing in my garden!
*Update Jan 2021 – In writing my page about vetches, I found out that there are various bulk wildflower seed mixes available to farmers for the Countryside Stewardship scheme. There are a few pollen-rich mixes containing Sainfoin and Vetch. Beautiful!
In the same google session I found a farmers seed website selling something looking very like the unidentified brassica above – Fodder Radish, Raphanus sativus, for use as a green manure.
I visited this area again on my way back from Cradle Valley Seaford in July 2021.