Walking across Oughtonhead Common which has been described as a mosaic of habitats: grassland and scrub, wet and dry woodland, river and marsh with fen characteristics. The damp soil sustains a late flush of wildflowers like Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). 

Water Mint (Mentha aquatica)

Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)

Great Willowherb (Eupatorium hirsutum)

 

 A stunner for long flowering late summer colour (and bees). I know it as Perovskia atriplicifolia but I see it has been reassigned to the Salvia genus and is now S. yangii. This one is probably the cultivar 'Blue Spire'. Common name: Russian Sage.

 There is a buzz around concepts like re-wilding and meadow making. Not a bad thing but it's worth bearing in mind that nature is always seeking to re-wild itself. Sections of this churchyard in Hitchin have been fenced off during restoration work on the church itself. The unmown and untrodden areas of grass are starting to revert to a meadow-like turf of their own accord.

 Five minutes walk away an exercise in urban meadow creation has taken place. A couple of years ago areas of this park were scraped back to bare earth and sowed with a wildflower mix. The grass quickly grew back (standard rye grasses are a very effective and pervasive ground cover). The wildflowers didn't amount to much.

 However the areas have not been mown over summer leaving the grass to grow quite tall. Among them an attractive display of wildflowers, mostly the "weeds" that were already present in the turf before the attempt to create a new meadow. Moral of the tale: don't cut the grass so often and the wildflowers will come. 

 The exquisite artistry of flowers: a close-up of Wild Chicory (Cichorium intybus).

 This has been a good year for butterflies. Last year was a disaster, cold and damp in spring through to early summer. I thought that would have a knock-on effect but the hot dry sunny conditions have had a positive effect.

 Be interesting to see how the migratory butterflies of late summer fare e.g. Red Admiral and Painted Lady. By contrast I wonder if the extreme heat on the continent will have an adverse influence? I'm thinking of factors like the spate of wildfires such as the huge one in France at the moment.

 Very clement weather in the UK currently after an unsettled period. Starting to feel like late summer, mellow warmth and sunshine. 

 Gardener beware! I gave myself a dose of phyto photo dermatitis. The sap of certain plants causes the skin to become ultra-sensitive to sunlight a day or two after contact. In my case I got splashes of sap here and there on my hands, wrists and arms which caused spots and blotches of raw red skin with some blistering and peeling. There are gruesome pictures on doctor internet of arms that resemble severe burns cases so I got off lightly.

 What caused it? Well, I trimmed the dangling stems of the Mulberry seen above and also cut back a rampant Fig growing hedge-like along a south facing wall. Both are of the plant family Moraceae which (I now know) is noted for this phenomenon. It seems to be one of those things that some people are immune to, some are susceptible to and some -like me- suddenly become susceptible.

 I have pruned an enormous Fig tree grown by my father many times but never had a problem. So perhaps it was the Mulberry? Or both? Perhaps the sap of one or other happened to be particularly potent at this point in the season?

 Anyway I will be very careful to cover up from now on. A friend of mine reports that he had a similar flare up strimming weeds wearing short trousers. Various species in the Apiaceae family have the same issue e.g. Cow Parsley, Wild Carrot, Giant Hogweed etc.

 

 Late summer beckons, flower heads become seed heads.

 

Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia)

 

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

Wild Basil (Clinopodium vulgare)

Common Blue pirouetting on Bird's Foot Trefoil. [best viewed at full size, click to enlarge]

 The Icknield Way runs through the pages of the diary on a regular basis. One notable aspect of this ancient route across Albion is that stretches of it are modern roads in current use. One such traverses Letchworth Garden City. So it was I followed the Icknield Way from Letchworth station to the edge of town.

 I was heading to an area known locally as "The Roman Camp" which is on the Way and as it happens next to my old secondary school. The footpath seen above runs along the perimeter of the school playing field. 

 The Romans were known for their roads but quite happy to co-opt existing tracks. In fact the camp probably dates back to the Bronze Age. Given the sweeping views this would have been a strategic location.

 More or less the view I used to gaze on in my schooldays looking towards the northerly Chiltern Hills. Perhaps it's not surprising that I continue to walk into that very landscape to this day. 

Scabious still in flower, Knapweed gone to seed.

 Teasel (Dispascus fullonum). The flowerhead has hundreds of tiny flowers. They start in a band in the middle then flower up and down the cone. So this one must be in the latter stage of flowering. 

 

 Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus) pops up here and there in the countryside. I had always thought it to be an introduction to these shores but various sources list it as native. Actually I don't think it looks very 'British'. I reckon it drifted in from southern Europe sometime in the distant past.

 Also grown in gardens and probably a garden escape in some locales. An edible herb, ancestor of culinary Chicory. 

 

Liminal space.

Couple more pics of the Sea Holly; Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro) in the background.

 Sea Holly (Eryngium giganteum) is a striking self-seeder in the borders at the music school. These were attracting many bumblebees, hoverflies and even Vespa crabro, the European Hornet...

  I remember the mild spring following a cold winter was tremendous for apple blossom. Perhaps this has been offset somewhat by the drought which may have implications for the harvest.

 However there's a good crop on a couple of apple trees at the music school which are the remnants of an orchard from its heyday as a Victorian country house.

 I can vouch for the one shown above. I plucked it and ate it after taking the photograph and it was delicious!

 There are 280 species of Hoverfly in the UK which is 279 more than I can ID off the top of my head. However this looks like a Marmalade Hoverfly which is the most common. 

 

 Ragworts and Teasels thriving in the drought. Clearly a hot, dry summer suits them.

 

 The grassy meadows near Ickleford are parched. At one point a freight train ran along the adjoining railway line and it looked more like a scene from the Midwest of America. 

 This is good territory for butterfly spotting. To the right of the fence is an expanse of grass which slopes gently down to a marshier area on the left. I saw various species flitting around including Whites and Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers.

 However the grasses are usually quite flowery with Thistles, Knapweeds, Scabious et al but much less so this year due to the effect of drought. Photographing butterflies is considerably easier when they pause briefly to nectar on a flowerhead!

 The hedges were the most floriferous place to look on account of the Brambles. Even their flowering is not abundant and already going over to form a crop of not very juicy Blackberries. Anyway, here is a snap of a particularly woody Specked Wood:

 Musk Mallow (Malva moschata) is a species I see in the chalk countryside from time to time, it likes a well drained soil. I imagine they would have been more common before farming mechanised and herbicides became the norm. An archetypal 'cottage garden plant' from the days when cottagers would have propagated the prettiest plants from the surrounding area for their gardens.

 Bumblebees were busy on the flowers. I noticed they seemed to be ignoring the pollen dusted stamen in favour of nectar robbing i.e. extracting nectar from the base of the flower.

Drought or no the toughest plants tough it out.

 

Seeing a lot of Gatekeepers and they like Knapweed.

 

 Elecampane (Inula helenium) is a plant I've always meant to grow. Obligingly this one has self-seeded on the allotment from a handsome stand on the neighbouring plot.

 I. helenium is native to West and Central Asia but an ancient introduction on these shores. It was known to both the Celts and the Romans. Much plant lore is associated with the properties of Elecampane; herbalists regard it as medicinal and elves consider it to be magical.

 

 Long summer days open up the possibility of evening walks when the work of the day is done. Still sunny and the air is warm. Pint at the Half Moon on the way out, and another on the way back.

 

Wild Marjoram (Origanum vulgare) attracting butterflies... 

And bees...