Uncommon wildflowers, part two. I started this occasional series with Ivy Broomrape which is parasitic on the roots of Ivy. Here is another member of the Broomrape family of plants: Common Toothwort (Lathrea squamaria), parasitic on the roots of Hazel and Alder in particular. 

 'Common' is a relative concept. L. squamaria is rare in Eastern England, a small colony in Wain Wood is the only locale I'm aware of near me. More common in other parts of the country into Wales and southern Scotland but not that common.

 Nonetheless its global distribution is huge: across Europe, north into Scandinavia, east through Russia as far as Siberia, south easterly through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan to the Western Himalayas. So this is a species that's both 'native' and 'exotic'. Uncommon in Hertfordshire but a citizen of the world. 

 

 The Hertfordshire/Bedfordshire countryside around Hitchin is largely unchanged since my childhood. I don't mean by that it's a rural idyll. What I mean is that modernity had already changed the landscape by the time I came to know it as a child. For example the field patterns are much the same because the patchwork of small fields divided by hedgerows had already been transformed into huge swathes of arable.

 Then as now there remained pockets and fragments of a much older landscape. I'm thinking of places like Knocking Hoe and Oughtonhead Common. They survived modernity because there was no point investing time and money in them. The Hoe for example is too steep to plough, the common too marshy to plant. Latterly they have come to be appreciated as nature reserves and amenities.

 

 Many grey days recently but the sunny days are splendid like on Knocking Hoe in the week.

 Amazing how this rambling rose has become so vigorous in such a small pot. And this photo was taken after I gave it a hard prune to reduce its size by about 50%.   

 David Austin has this to say about choosing a pot for a climbing or rambling rose: 

 "It must be large enough to accommodate an extensive root system, support a tall framework, and retain moisture without becoming waterlogged. Choose a container that measures at least 60cm (2ft) wide and deep, holding a minimum of 100 litres of compost".

 Good advice which doesn't seem to apply to this particular rose!

 In a way the perfect day to walk out into the blue. A cool, fresh breeze yet I could feel the warmth of winter sun on my face. I lingered awhile on the slopes of Knocking Hoe communing with eternity.

 

 Uncommon wildflowers, part one. In fact I'm not really a seeker of rare species. I'm very happy to see drifts of Rosebay Willowherb along railway embankments or woods full of Bluebells or a lawn infested with Self-Heal.

 Nonetheless it is a thrill to come across a rarity. Case in point Ivy Broomrape (Orobanche hederae) grows in great profusion in the grounds of Benslow Music School in Hitchin. That is surprising because Brian Sawford describes it as "one of Hertfordshire's rarest wildflowers" in his great book 'Wildflower Habitats of Hertfordshire' published in 1990.  

 He noted that it was "unexpectedly discovered in a churchyard in northern Hertfordshire" in 1984. Furthermore he states that "These are the only colonies of this normally maritime species ever known from the county, and the only location in the whole of the Eastern part of Britain, north of the River Thames."  

 Quite when or how O. hederae arrived at Benslow is a mystery. It's flourishing here to the extent that it's really quite common in this particular locale.

 Happy to report that giant Echiums are starting to colonise my street in south London. These are E. wildpretii in my neighbour's front garden. They are the progeny of one I grew in my front garden a number of years ago. 

 Hailing from the Canary Islands they are triennial i.e. a seedling/rosette appears in the first year, then puts on about a metre of growth in the second year, then raises the towering spike of flowers in the third year. After flowering the whole plant dies having dropped copious amounts of seed.

 The blue flowered E. pininana is well established in the back gardens and wildpretii will hopefully do the same at the front.