I rarely buy plants in the summertime because spring and autumn are the optimum time for planting. But this is a new one on me: Patrinia scabiosifolia. Hails from Japan and is sometimes referred to as Eastern Valerian. I saw it on a market stall and couldn't resist.

 Needs a sunny spot but can take a bit of shade the lady told me. The label said well drained soil but some sources say moist. Probably requires that holy grail of soil "moist but well drained". 

 Anyway, this specimen has a lot of vigorous growth at the base and the bright yellow umbels are pleasingly airy so I'll give it a go.

  Hedgerow harvests. Some nice plump Blackberries. They seem particularly sweet and juicy this year despite (and probably because of) the heatwave and draught. Tough growing conditions can sometimes have a stimulating effect. 

 Another kind of harvest- collecting seeds like Red Campion as seen above. Botanically speaking a fruit is a ripened ovary which contains seeds whether edible or not. So Red Campion which is not an edible nonetheless forms a dry fruit in the form of a capsule. Blackberries are a fruit in both the botanical sense and the kind we eat.

 Red Campion seeds are obligingly easy to collect. The capsule opens at the top when fully dry allowing the seeds to spill out.      

 Here is a Garden Tiger. Sources seem to vary as to whether this is a night or day flying moth. Certainly I saw this one in the daytime but perhaps something disturbed it. Once regarded as a common sight it has experienced a drastic decline.

 The Garden Tiger is the one that hatches from the long hairy caterpillar which we are told as children not to touch because the hairs will irritate the skin.

 

 The pond area at the South London Botanical Institute. A pond is arguably the single most important feature of a wildlife garden. Where there's water there's life- living in it and coming to drink from it. Another benefit is that several of our waterside species are among the last natives to flower which is a boon for pollinators. That is even more important in a drought year like this.

 In the photograph above: Marsh Mallow in the foreground, Purple Loosestrife at the back and to the right the fluffy flower heads of Hemp Agrimony going to seed.

 Six-spot Burnet- two in fact. Why look for strange beings in outer space when we have them right here on earth? Six-spot Burnett is a moth that flies in the daytime.

 Hexton Chalk Pit is more of a shallow bowl than a pit. The view across Bedfordshire is striking but the intricate tapestry of grass and flowers was my reason for going there today. Along with Knocking Hoe, the Pegsden Hills and the Barton Hills this is part of the ribbon of surviving chalk grassland along the Hertfordshire/Bedfordshire border.  

 Butterflies fluttered all around me, rising and falling with every step I took. One species was particularly prolific: the Chalk Hill Blue in its ideal habitat. 

 Here are the male and female of the species. The female Chalk Hill Blue is brown!

 

 I have never known the garden to be this dry. I moved to the deep south (of London) in 2010 and it has been parched before but not like this. The trees are still green but even the hardiest, most drought tolerant perennials are wilting.  Ordinarily I would expect them to recover from the roots over winter. For the first time I am wondering if some will survive the summer.

 About twenty years ago ecologists were warning we should be planting gardens with drought in mind. In fact there followed a number of summers of torrential rain. Something we have realised is that global warming creates a lot of extreme weather, not just drought. Nonetheless the record heat and lack of rainfall this year may well be a portent of what to expect on a regular basis. 

Bee happy.

The Pegsden Hills yesterday.

 Paying much more attention to butterflies (and moths) these days. Of course I've always enjoyed seeing them around but it's interesting to identify them and find out more. Above is a Speckled Wood. I don't think I can do better than quote the description on the 'A-Z of butterflies' on the admirable Butterfly Conservation website:

 "The aptly named Speckled Wood flies in partially shaded woodland with dappled sunlight. The male usually perches in a small pool of sunlight, from where it rises to intercept any intruder. Both sexes feed on honeydew in the treetops and are rarely seen feeding on flowers, except early and late in the year when aphid activity is low."

 So it makes perfect sense to find a Speckled Wood in the back garden in Hitchin which corresponds to light woodland albeit in a town setting. The plastic wash basket makes a suitable perch where my father happened to leave it in a sunny spot on the patio.   

 This bird is a bit confused as to its whereabouts. I was sitting in the living room with the back window open about six inches at the bottom. It suddenly flew straight in whizzing past my shoulder and settled among the house plants at the other end of the room.

 I opened the window to the fullest extent and eventually it returned to the great outdoors after exploring various nooks and crannies among the bookshelves and furniture. A baby Robin I think; fledglings take a while to develop the characteristic red breast plumage. 

 It wasn't particularly concerned by my presence. I'm glad Kate the cat wasn't in the room at the time or it would have been mayhem.

 We are experiencing a severe drought and an extraordinary heatwave. The temperature today and yesterday in the southern England has been touching 40℃. I have experienced this kind of blistering sun in California but never before in the UK.

 Yet wild plants can take it. This patch of Common Fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica) on the allotment is never watered. Indeed P. dysenterica arrived on the allotment of its own accord and has flourished. Moreover it is a plant usually associated with damp ground -like ditches and marshes- whereas the soil on the allotment drains and dries rapidly. In fact such species can be surprisingly drought tolerant. Boggy ground dries out from time to time and plants play the long game.

 Climate change is generating extremes on a regular basis. I think that many of the plants best adapted to survive will be our native and naturalised wildflowers. They have known a lot of weather in the span of their existence.

 NB Fleabane is not an edible and I keep it on the allotment because I like it. Having said that it could justifiably be used as a companion plant in a natural gardening approach. It may perhaps be the bane of fleas, I haven't put that to the test. Certainly it has a pungency which is known to repel some insects.

 Patterns in nature. We perceive extraordinary beauty in patterns. Plants don't strive for beauty (unless we want to be very metaphysical about it). I am reminded of something I was told by Aranya who is a gifted teacher of the principles of Permaculture and all round polymath.

 He made the point that natural forms like shapes and patterns represent the most effective way of fulfilling a function. The thorny thistle does not exist to be beautiful for our eyes but nonetheless is extraordinarily beautiful. 

 Another one for the butterfly collection: a Peacock. A species that likes the shelter of hedges and woodland edges.

 Rosebay Willowherb which I think of as Epilobium angustifolium but which has been reclassified as Chamerion angustifolium. If you see a pink haze by a roadside or railway line at this time of year it will be Rosebay Willowherb.

 Readily forms large drifts as it spreads by both self-seeding and rhizomes. Rosebay Willowherb has a wide distribution across the northern hemisphere. Possibly native to the UK, old records suggest it was present but not abundant. E. angustifolium seems to have become prolific during the course of the twentieth century.

 My father tells me it covered bomb sites around St. Paul's in London after the war. An American name for the plant is 'Fireweed.' Seeds dormant in the soil will germinate after an area has been scorched by fire.

 A good plant for pollinators in the latter part of the summer. This swathe was attracting masses of honeybees as well as bumblebees and butterflies.

 This diary is sometimes critical of arable monocultures but a vista of rolling wheat fields has a kind of grandeur, particularly at this time of year. And we need bread after all -and electricity.

 Actually I've always liked the sight of pylons crossing the landscape. I read an article recently about the new generation of pylons which are said to be more discreet; basically a white column with a couple of arms for the cables. Ugly as sin in my opinion whereas the classic pylon is one of the great icons of modernism.

 Monocultures are not great for wildlife needless to say. However the hedge line alongside the track had a welcome abundance of wildflowers. There were plenty of bumblebees foraging along its length and a good many butterflies.

 

 

 A day at the seaside- and a rare plant. In the UK Hog Fennel (Peucedanum officinale) is found in only a few locations on the coasts of Kent and Essex. The colony at Tankerton Slopes near Whitstable is said to be the largest. I was visiting a friend who lives nearby so I took a stroll along the prom, prom, prom to have a look.  

 Back in the seventeenth century the herbalist Culpepper noted that "It grows plentifully in the salt low marshes near Faversham in Kent." That's only a few miles from Tankerton but seems to have declined or disappeared in that locale since Culpepper's day.

 Amazingly there is a moth -Fisher's Esturine Moth- which feeds exclusively on Hog Fennel so must be extremely scarce too.

 The elusive butterfly. Not the easiest things to get a snap of but I've been seeing plenty of butterflies on recent rambles in Hertfordshire. Is this blur a Brimstone? Seen here making its way around a patch of Henbit Deadnettle.  

 A Marbled White. Thistles are among their main food plants.

Skipper on a Vetch. An Essex Skipper perhaps or is it a Small Skipper or a Large Skipper?

A Comma. This species declined alarmingly then made a comeback so it's not all bad news.

 Small Tortoiseshell on Wild Marjoram. A glimpse of both the colourful upper wing and the dusky underwing. Wild Marjoram is noted as a butterfly plant par excellence.

 Wild Marjoram again. And the butterfly... well, it's a White. Would it be a Large White? Note to self: brush up on butterfly ID skills. 

 "Leaves of three, let it be" is the old proverb concerning Poison Ivy (Toxicodendrens radicans). This specimen is in the poisonous plants section at the South London Botanical Institute. That saying is good advice: brushing against Poison Ivy can result in a nasty and painful rash.

 T. radicans is native to North America. I remember chatting to a hiker on the Pacific Crest Trail who was in a good deal of discomfort after coming into contact with it.

 The one at the SLBI was starting to expand beyond its designated area so I was asked to thin it out. Gloves and well covered up were the order of the day- no shorts or t-shirt for dealing with this task. Poison Ivy is an example of a vine developing adventitious roots as it climbs and scrambles.