Took a walk towards them thar Chiltern Hills from the outskirts of Hitchin. The fields on this stretch of the Chiltern Way are mostly large and intensively farmed so the hedgerows and field margins are the best place to spot wildflowers.

 

 

 There was a lot of Privet in flower, probably the native Wild Privet (Ligustrum vulgare). Garden hedges tend to be the Japanese/Korean species Ligustrum ovalifolium but L. vulgare was commonly used in the farm hedges of old. It is noted for being wildlife friendly.

  It was a bit cool and breezy for bees and butterflies but there are other pollinators. I noticed the flowers of the wild roses were crawling with some tiny insect with a hard shell. The Dog Rose (Rosa canina) is another native of old hedgerows.

  Common wildflowers like Ox-eye Diasy (Leucanthemum vulgare) were quite prolific. I've known this route to be more flowery and spotted some more unusual species at the same time of year but the wildflower season is very variable depending on conditions.