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)