Spotting flowers growing wild in South East UK
Watching nature – birds and bees in my garden, or larger animals further afield.
Planting the Pond We put in the pond about three weeks ago and I filled it from one of our water butts. I ordered some pond plants and an aerator online and put them in soon after they arrived in the post. Pond plants I ordered a combination of native UK marginal plants with a…
Putting in the pond If you remember the previous post about my wildlife garden, you’ll know that I got a preformed pond for Christmas! The big cardboard box I was holding in the photo was this pond: You can see the pond has different levels for placing pond plants and an escape ramp for tiny…
Making my messy garden into a wildlife garden I live in a Victorian end-of-terrace house on the coast in Sussex in the south of England with my husband Mike and whichever of my two adult children is currently home. It’s on a large plot by modern standards with garden both front and back, and I’ll…
We took the van to Gwynedd for a late summer treat What a beautiful spot – mountains, rivers, beaches, sunsets and a few wildflowers to add to my list! We took Ethel the campervan for a few nights to a great little campsite opposite Portmeirion across the river estuary in the Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park….
Wildflower spotting in spring 2024 This is my second year of taking part in the Wildflower Society diary. As a newbie I have to stick to a set list of common wildflowers, and record them on a spreadsheet when I find them, along with the place, date and grid reference if possible. Last year I…
Milkwort grows on chalk grassland near me I love these tiny blue wildflowers but until recently they’ve been at my limit of photography. Macro images are a big interest of mine and these days you don’t even need a camera! You can get great pics via your mobile using little magnifying attachments or just the…
Spring camping in the van Last spring we visited Faversham which is on the north Kent coast in the south east of England. We stayed at Painters Farm in the cherry orchard. Cherry blossom field I’d been asking Mike if we could do a few more camp sites with the van where we parked on…
Seaford mosses In February after enjoying reading Leif Bersweden’s recent book Where the wild flowers grow I followed him on Instagram (@leifbersweden) in time to find him advocating us all having a closer look at mosses (#couchto10mosses). Being early in the year I wasn’t out and about much but I did have a mooch around…
Wildflowers spotted in Zakynthos Greece on holiday I was on a family holiday, so not botanising religiously, but I did come across a few things of interest. Sea Squill – Drimia maritima As an amateur gardener, when I saw this substantial plant I assumed it was Foxtail Lily. But I looked it up when I…
Still some plants in flower Despite being a dry month there were still some species flowering Rosebay Willowherb – Chamaenerion angustifolium Wild Carrot – Daucus carota gall – Keifferia pericarpiicola This was the first time I’d found these little pink balls on Wild Carrot, and I had to look up what they were. Old mans…