Pollinators part four. Hmm, is this the Southern Cuckoo Bumblebee (Bombus vestalis) or a female Buff-Tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)? Cuckoo species take over the nests of other bumblebees and let them do the work of rearing their young. Indeed B. vestalis moves in on the nest of B. terrestris. 

 I let Trailing Bellflower trail all over the front garden. Campanula poscharskyana is semi-evergreen and smothered with violet/blue flowers in late May into June. I left at 5am this morning for an early start at work. The sun was rising and there was already a loud buzzing of bumblebees...

 A few more plants because you can never have too many plants. Healthy, hardy homegrown plants I bought today from a market stall. For shade three pots of Snowy Woodrush (Luzula nivea). For a sun a Peach-Leaved Bellflower (Campanula persicifolia),

 

  Pollinators part three. A smaller bumblebee than the Common Carder I described a couple of days ago. This looks like a Red-tailed Bumblebee making its way around the Chives on the allotment.

 Pollinators part two. Continuing this occasional series identifying pollinators. I think this is a Common Carder Bee (pollinating the raspberries on the allotment). Tree Bees have a similar ginger ruff but they have a black abdomen and a white tail. Seen sideways on this bee has the dark bands characteristic of a Common Carder... 

 The wildflower patch on the allotment is blooming. I planted a selection of bare root plants a few years ago which I thought might suit the conditions, also sowed an assortment of seeds. [NB see entry dated 10th. May for my thoughts on establishing meadows from seed]

 My hope was that at least some of them would find their niche and start to spread. All the bare root plants have done well including Field Scabious and Dame's Violet as seen above. Some (though not all) of the species I seeded have established themselves e.g. Red Campion. 

 I was intending to go to Myddleton House in Enfield today for a plant sale and to have a wander through the grounds. Unfortunately I didn't get round to it what with one thing and another but I've got plenty of plants to look at already! 

 Myddleton House was the home of the renowned botanist and horticulturalist E.A. Bowles. We still grow plants he cultivated like Vinca minor 'Bowle's Blue' and Erysimum 'Bowle's Mauve'. Apparently he was particularly fond of flowers of those hues so I'm sure he appreciated our native Field Scabious... 

 I bought this Cyclamen hederifolium yesterday in a plant sale in someone's garden. I expect a garden centre would have put it to one side as a not very promising commercial proposition. But for me it's very promising, ideal in fact. The pot contains numerous seed pods which are nearly ripe...

 By this point the flowers have been fertilised and the stems emanating from the tuber are coiled up rather like springs with the pods on the end. It's possible to collect the seeds when the pods are ready to open and propagate them in pots. I will simply plant it in a spot I have in mind which I would like to be colonised by C. hederifolium and see what happens. The seeds have a sticky, sugary coating which attracts ants and other insects as well as birds and small mammals thereby acting as a dispersal mechanism.

 

 C. hederifolium comes into flower in late summer/early autumn. Reversing the usual order of things the leaves start to appear towards the end of the flowering period and remain in leaf over winter. Sometimes called the Ivy-Leaved Cyclamen they can form quite a decent ground cover, not to mention being one of the last plants of the year to flower in shade. 

 My neighbourhood's Open Gardens took place over the weekend; usually an annual event which needless to say took a couple of years out due to the pandemic. I have opened the garden in previous years but what with one thing and another I didn't this time round. 

 On the plus side that meant I was able to have a look at other people's gardens. The first I visited was a community garden just up the road. I was struck by this obelisk among the greenery. Apparently it served a dual purpose. 

 The area now known as Telegraph Hill was the manor of Hatcham in ancient times purchased by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers in 1614. For several centuries the land was farmed as market gardens. Between the 1860s and the 1890s the Haberdasher's Company gave it over to a large scale housing development.

 I gather this object is one of several in the vicinity that marked the edge of the estate and also the historic border of Kent and Surrey (which included Hatcham). In 1899 the county of London was created by Act of Parliament and the 'Home Counties' retreated to the margins of the capital. People born and/or living in the metropolis tend to identify as Londoners or with their immediate locality or both. 

 Indeed the thought never occurred to me that really I live in Surrey. All of a sudden I feel grander and more prosperous! 

 

  I went to not one but two plant sales yesterday. For the discerning plant hunter they are way better than the typical garden centre. Better quality, better value and a better selection.

 In the morning I went to the annual sale at the wonderful South London Botanical Institute. Very hardy plants raised on the premises or in members' gardens. In the afternoon I went to the Plant Fairs Roadshow- a gathering of specialist nurseries which rolls up every year in my neighbourhood hall. Actually both had to take a couple of years out with the pandemic so it's great they're back. For all you plant lovers out there I picked up the following...

 From the SLBI I got Eupatorium cannabinum, Rubus tricolor, Valeriana officinalis, several Geranium nodosum and an Oxalis, species unknown.

 At the Roadshow I got Galega officinalis, Geranium macrorrhizum 'Album' and 'Spessart', Cardamine macrophylla, Geranium phaeum 'Album', Lamium orvala and Astrantia major 'Superstar'. All but the first I got from Pineview Plants. In fact I contacted them in advance to place an order and picked them up on the day.

 I'm hoping to make it to the next stop on the Roadshow which is May 22nd. at Myddleton House in Enfield. Firstly I have to satisfy my craving for plants (the first step is admitting you've got a problem). Secondly, Myddleton House was the home of the great botanist and horticulturalist E.A. Bowles and still has extensive gardens based on his work and ideas.   

 The grassy slopes of Knocking Hoe are an important habitat for numerous common and uncommon wildflowers [see last entry]. Rather than being entirely "natural" such environments are the product of the relationship between nature and pre-industrial forms of agriculture. For example, grass grazed to a short sward by sheep allows certain plant species to proliferate.

 Go back a century or two and that happened as a matter of course. These days it generally has to be part of a planned conservation strategy.  

 Also specific interventions may be helpful. For example the area shown above is fenced off to avoid trampling a colony of the rare Burnt Tip Orchid. At least that's what they tell us. We know it's a landing place for flying saucers don't we?

 There are some wonderful survivals of ancient landscape on the Hertfordshire/ Bedfordshire border. Barton Hills, Hexton Chalk Pit, the Pegsdon Hills and Knocking Hoe are well worth a visit. The flora and fauna of chalk grassland abound and all have sweeping views.

 This photo was taken at Knocking Hoe looking towards Knocking Knoll (on the horizon) which is thought to be the remains of a long barrow.

 From a distance grasslands can seem quite sparse but up close there are treasures to be found. As well as "common" wildflowers (that are not so common these days) there are some real rarities at Knocking Hoe like Moon Carrot, Spotted Catsear, Field Fleawort, Burnt Tip Orchid and (above) Pasque Flower.

 When I was there yesterday I spotted a chap placing little red flags hither and thither. Turned out he was the volunteer warden getting ready to do a count of Pasque Flowers which are doing well this year he reckoned.

 NB for more on the Pasque Flower see entry dated 26th. April 2018 describing my visit to Therfield Heath, another Hertfordshire stronghold of this elusive beauty. 

 Here is an English scene. A footpath to the village church through a meadow carpeted with Buttercups. The village is Pirton in Hertfordshire. 

 These Poppies have made themselves at home in the unpromising setting of a main road and adjoining  car park. There is a lot of interest these days in gardening with wildflowers and planting urban meadows. In fact wild plants are apt to poke through every crack and crevice in towns and cities and readily colonise any patch of neglected ground. They are frequently discouraged from doing so because they are considered to be weeds.   

 "Meadow mixes" of wildflower seed are easily purchased but the results are often disappointing. The word "meadow" is generic; meadows are invariably niche environments. For example a chalk hillside in Wiltshire grazed by sheep or a peat floodplain in Devon grazed by cattle will have very different flora.

 Scattering a generic mix of seeds is unlikely to recreate an ancient flower meadow. A few might take to the surroundings, most will probably not. It is worth trying species that may suit a particular locale (taking into account factors like sun/shade, soil type and so forth) but even then the success rate is likely to be hit and miss.   

 Fortunately plants are very adept at finding spots that suit them as with these Poppies. Nature gardens with wildflowers and creates urban meadows- as long as we don't mistake them for weeds. 

 May blossom is one of the delights of the countryside. Looking across a stretch of open country one often sees Hawthorns dotted around the landscape bursting with white flowers.

 As I noted recently some hedgerows might be a sliver of ancient woodland that was retained as a boundary line when either side was grubbed up for fields. The again I have also noted that a good many mature trees were probably planted as part of a hedgerow then grown tall [see entries dated 18th. March and 20th. April]. I would think the Hawthorn seen above is an example of the latter scenario. 

 

  A striking combination. The flowers of Geranium phaeum are a deep, velvety maroon. One might say sombre; it is sometimes called The Mourning Widow. The flowers (and foliage) of Smyrnium perfoliatum are luminous lime green/lemon yellow. Always bright and positively radiant in direct sunlight.

 

 

  A nice ensemble. Laburnum looming over Lilac with a Sycamore in the background. Underneath -from left to right- Ivy, White Comfrey, Green Alkanet, Cranesbill, Greater Stitchwort merging with the "lawn" (an area of rough grass rarely cut). Adjacent to the woodland edge planting I described recently [29th. April]. This spot receives a bit more sun but same principle.

 Despite the dry April the rhubarb patch seems to have done ok. And overnight it actually rained. The smell of damp air and wet greenery was really quite unexpected after a month without any April showers. The stalks are reaching a decent length i.e. about ten to twelve inches so I cut a few to stew later.

 The leaves are considered to be poisonous as they contain higher concentrations of oxalic acid than the stalks where it is also present. There seems to be some debate whether the toxicity might in fact be due to other chemical compounds in the leaves. 

 It's not uncommon to eat one part of a plant and avoid another. Case in point tomatoes are an edible fruit but the rest of the plant has toxic properties. Then again all parts of beetroot are edible but the leaves and stems are often discarded.

 The big, crinkly foliage of rhubarb is nonetheless very useful for mulching the plant it came from...

 The garden of my childhood had a lawn and borders. Over the decades it has become a a woodland garden- and a haven for nature.

 Pollinators, part one. I make frequent mention of pollinators in this diary. Flowering plants and pollinators co-evolved over millennia- fossil records suggest a period of 110-140 million years! However I must admit that my knowledge of pollinators is limited. So I will make this the first in an occasional series where I try to identify the pollinator as well as the plant.

 The plant in question is White Honesty (Lunaria annua var. albiflora). I was intrigued when I saw this bee-like pollinator going from the flower to flower. I say bee-like because the body is hairy like a bee but the proboscis is very long and the legs very spindly. I think this is a bee-fly, possibly the Dark-edged Bee-fly (Bombyllus major). There are many species of Bombylidae and they are indeed a family of flies that look like bees.