Late summer
Since my previous postAMP about the Wildflower Society diary, things have been a bit quieter. This isn’t due to the lack of flowers, more about my lifestyle! I’ve been on two campervan trips since I last wrote – to see my brother in Somerset, and to Latitude Festival – on both occasions we were too busy drinking cider to spot wildflowers ;). We visited the lovely Scotney Castle in Kent and have been on several walks around Seaford though.
This has been a strange summer with most of July cold and wet, in the South East anyway. Luckily it seemed to brighten up for the school holidays. I’m writing this on 1st September, which is officially the start of Meteorological autumn, although the Equinox isn’t until the third week of the month. It’s 26degC as I write this by the way, so it definitely still feels like summer!
I found some damp- and water- loving wildflowers while wandering around the moat of the decoratively ruined Scotney Castle in Kent. In the pic you can see Hemp agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum and white Water lilies Nymphaea alba. Others included Great reedmace Typha latifolia, and Gypsywort Lycopus europaeus which is a new one on me.
We also found a fab display of artworks by contemporary landscape artist Nessie Ramm – do check out her embellished metal road signs!
Walking to work and visiting the Last Meadow have yielded Golden Rod Solidago (although I don’t yet know which particular species it is) and Michaelmas daisy Symphyotrichum species. In the top photo on this page you can see them growing alongside fluffy Traveller’s-Joy Clematis vitalba seed heads. Also seen in August in the Last Meadow: Marjoram Origanum majorana, Wild Basil Clinopodium vulgare and Common Fleabane Pulicaria dysenterica.
Last time I looked, my flower count for the diary was up to 209 with still a few to add for this summer. Next week we’re off to Slimbridge WWT so I’m hoping that the weather holds!