Nature spotting and beginners botany on the South Coast of England

Walking and wild plants

Hi I’m Ruth and this is a pic of me on my local beach having a picnic a couple of years ago.

I love spotting wildflowers, and go for a 35 minute walk a few times a week for exercise (see map below). Visiting the same spots regularly on my walks, I soon started to notice new flowers along the route (mostly in the pavement or on verges), and became interested in identifying as many as possible. I photograph them too, although often only using my smartphone. I recently joined Sussex Wildlife Trust, Plantlife and the Wildflower Society.

Sussex and Kent flora

I live in Seaford in sunny Sussex on the South Coast of England, between Eastbourne and Brighton, but my search for wildflowers often takes me to Kent, hence the tagline for this blog “Spotting flowers growing wild in the South East”. You’ll probably find the occasional entry from further afield too. Here is a link to a map showing my most commonly visited areas.

Calmness, nature and green spaces

The title Photographing Wildflowers really refers to the idea of taking time to stop and look around. I’m also interested in art, the countryside, food, gardening, and how to get more relaxation generally!

Dried flowers business

Workwise, I’m director of Daisy Gifts Ltd, an internet dried flower company which I started in 2002. It keeps me very busy, but I do like to try and get out and about as much as possible so it doesn’t take over my life!

My husband is called Mike (also a director), and we have two adult children.

Visit our shop at daisyshop.co.uk and my dried flowers blog at driedflowercraft.co.uk
(experimenting with drying flowers from my garden is another favourite pastime).