I walked around Knocking Hoe today (twice in fact) where the Chiltern Hills meet East Anglia on the Hertfordshire/Bedfordshire border. It's one of several nature reserves hereabouts which are surviving pockets of chalk grassland. 

From a distance it could be mistaken for grass and not much else. On closer inspection the grasses are teeming with wildflowers...

  So many flowers that I won't follow my usual practice of identifying each one individually with both the common and Latin name. Suffice to say among the above can be seen Greater Knapweed, Harebell, Pyramidal Orchid, Field Scabious, Clustered Bellfower and Lady's Bedstraw.

 Knocking Hoe is a haven for species such as these that were once the "common" wildflowers of the countryside and which are considerably less common now. That is reason enough for coming here but the reserve is also known for sheltering some real rarities like the Pasque Flower, Moon Carrot and Field Fleawort.