This looks to be a Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis), rather more bulbous than pyramidal in full flower.

  A "common" orchid though that is a relative concept where orchids are concerned. I see A. pyramidalis often enough in its favoured habitat of chalk grassland. But I was surprised to see this specimen on the margin of the fallow field I wrote about in my last entry.

 They can't survive repeated ploughing and spraying but this one was close to what remained of the hedgerow. 

 I noticed these pylons among drifts of red Poppies from the window of a train last week. So I walked to the spot to take a photo from the other direction (note the train in the distance).

 The chalky fields of Hertfordshire are heavily farmed (and sprayed) but leave one fallow for a year or two and a collection of arable weeds soon appears, particularly the Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas). The seeds can remain dormant in the ground for years then germinate when disturbed (but not sprayed).

Marbled White in flight.

Sweet meadow. Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) in evening sun.

 Another shot of a Meadow Brown. This one is nectaring on Greater Knapweed in the wildflower patch on the allotment. Two factors are crucial for butterflies. One is the weather during the life cycle of egg/larva/pupil/adult. The other is the availability of their food plants.

 I mentioned in Wednesday's entry that the weather we've had may result in a bad year for butterflies. I noted that I saw none at all on a route I walked which is usually terrific for butterflies from June onwards. Emergence will no doubt have been delayed/diminished by the atmospheric conditions. Not only that I was dismayed to see that the length of this stretch has been heavily mowed.    

 Ordinarily a wonderful selection of wildflowers grows on the verges either side of the path, particularly on the right which is south facing. That has been decimated apart from Stinging Nettles and a few Umbellifers growing out from within the hedgerows. 

 This track runs between large fields of arable monoculture of negligible benefit to wildlife and sprayed regularly. These hedgerows and the space between are therefore an especially valuable habitat providing both shelter and food for the complete life cycle of a butterfly.

 The situation is not entirely hopeless. For example there is a lot of bramble running through the hedges which is about to come into flower. But it would have been so easy just to mow a central strip along the well defined path leaving a foot or two of longer grass and wildflowers at the base of the hedges. This would have balanced the benefits to wildlife with the path being used as an amenity.

 I thought countryside management had become a bit more enlightened. Bad weather is what is but bad practice is a double whammy. Moreover fewer butterflies on the wing this year means less caterpillars for next year. I'm sorry to say this particular habitat may take a long time to recover its equilibrium. 

 Summer solstice. The sun sets on the longest day. 

 The landscape around my home town of Hitchin is a farmed one on the whole. Nonetheless there are several walks in the vicinity that are excellent for butterfly spotting. 

 I walked one such route today in ideal conditions- hot, dry, sunny. There was a gentle breeze in the surrounding countryside but the particular track I followed has high hedgerows on either side so the air was still. Usually abundant with butterflies as midsummer approaches but not one did I see. 

 I did spot several Meadow Browns in a grassy meadow I cut through on the way home but I fear this may be a bad year. We had a wet winter and spring and June has been cool and breezy. Then again there was an unseasonably warm spell in April. I saw butterflies appearing early during that period- a bad thing if out of synch with their food plants.

 It's difficult to second guess the effect of the vicissitudes of the weather and the fluctuations that may cause. I'll be on the lookout for emerging butterflies in the weeks ahead. 

Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare). It feels like summer has arrived.

Campanula persicifolia and Cotinus 'Grace'. 

 Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor). An annual of grassland, the flowers are yellow and the seeds rattle in their pods. 

 R. minor is a hemi-parasite. It is parasitic on the roots of grass but nonetheless has the capacity to photosynthesise. The vigour of grass is considerably reduced by the presence of Yellow Rattle thereby allowing other species to flourish in meadow habitats.

 For that reason it is often in the mix when trying to establish new meadows with combinations of grasses and wildflowers. The photos above were taken on the Hoo Bit nature reserve last week which adjoins the Pegsdon Hills. I think Hoo Bit was reclaimed from a wooded area rather in the style of wood pasture. Perhaps Yellow Rattle was introduced or perhaps it was present in the surrounding area anyway.  

 Phacelia tanacetifolia is good for biomass and bees; a fast growing annual that can be sown through spring and summer. Often cited as a 'green manure' i.e. chop and drop to enrich the soil. Agriculturally the advice is to do that before the flowers set seed but self-seeding is fine by me.

 There's a bed on the allotment where I conducted an experiment to see if Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) would form a ground cover that could suppress weeds and coarse grasses. Answer: no (though the Wild Strawberries held their own amongst them). 

 I dug the bed over in spring and sowed Phacelia rather than leaving it fallow. I hoped Phacelia would grow faster than weeds -thereby shading them out- which has proved to be reasonably successful. And very pretty with lots of bees. 

 A late afternoon walk over Hoo Bit and the Pegsdon Hills. Many, many Orchids in flower. They seem particularly tall and sturdy this year. Indeed that is true of many plants. There are Stinging Nettles on the allotment over six feet high!

 Ivy Broomrape (Orobanche hederae) is thriving in the grounds of Benslow music school. That is intriguing because Brian Sawford characterised it as "one of Hertfordshire's rarest wildflowers" in his excellent book 'Wild Flower Habitats of Hertfordshire' which was published in 1990. 

 He notes that "it was unexpectedly discovered in a churchyard in northern Hertfordshire in 1984, parasitic upon Ivy tumbling over a few ancient limestone tombstones and by an adjacent gravel drive". Moreover he states that "These are the only colonies of this normally maritime species ever known from the county, and the only location in the whole of the Eastern part of Britain, north of the River Thames". He speculates that seeds may have clung to the tombstones quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. As he alludes to O. hederae is an obligate parasite without chlorophyll and its host plant is Ivy.

 Ordinarily we might assume that rare wildflowers are getting rarer. However the 2020 Plant Atlas of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland describes coastal populations as stable but increasing in gardens and urban areas. It speculates this may be by wind dispersal or as a contaminant of top soil.

 I came across an article from 2019 in the Benslow newsletter by Gill Langley "Hitchin resident and Broomrape enthusiast". At the time she reckoned there were at least 130 plants there (I haven't counted!) and mentions five other sites in the county. Has O. hederae increased since that first discovery in 1984 or has it simply been noticed in other locations?

 How it came to be at the music school is a mystery. Benslow was formerly a rather grand country house and grounds; numerous wild species persist albeit surrounded by the expansion of Hitchin. Then again building works have taken place and Jif has developed the gardens with substantial planting over the course of several decades. Possibly the seeds and/or tissue arrived as 'contaminants'? Or perhaps the seed blew in on the wind and found ideal conditions?

 For whatever reason the rare and wonderful Ivy Broomrape is well established at Benslow. 

 There are several large beds at the music school as created by Jif in the tradition of the classic herbaceous/mixed border. Perennials and shrubs are the backbone of the planting but various self-seeding annuals and biennials are prolific and can be relied upon to fill any gaps in a most attractive way. Case in point the sky blue flowers of Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damascena)...  

 The wild Dog Rose (Rosa canina) scrambles over hedge banks, scrub and the edges of woodland. Prolific and an important source of nectar.

 Plants are sometimes given the epithet 'dog' if considered inferior. It's hard to imagine that this lovely rose would be thought less worthy than others. Or it may be from the Old English 'dag' i.e. dagger in reference to the thorns. 

 Then again Pliny refers to a rosa canina whose root could cure the bite of a rabid dog. Most botanical nomenclature has been invented in the past few centuries by Linnaeus et al whereas the the name of our humble Dog Rose dates back to classical Latin.   

The humps of Knocking Hoe are shimmering slopes of grasses.

 Many common and uncommon wildflowers of chalk grassland can be found here including Dropwort (Filipendula vulgaris).

 A great locale to see Common, Pyramidal and Fragrant Orchid. And a real rarity: one of the few colonies of Burnt-tip Orchid in the country. Most of the others are in Wiltshire.

 Knocking Hoe is a nature reserve managed with conservation in mind. Sheep graze the hills in sections divided by low electric fences. In some areas the grass is left long, in others the turf is chewed to a short sward thereby favouring different wildflowers in different places.

 Stachys sylvatica is the Latin name coined by Linnaeus for this species. It is indeed a plant of sylvan glades and woodland rides. The common name Hedge Woundwort is also indicative of its habitat as well as alluding to the perceived medical use in earlier times.

 Often found among Stinging Nettles and is of the Lamium genus sometimes referred to as Dead-nettles i.e. no sting. Hedge Woundwort is much visited by bees. 

 The Mullein on a Mullein i.e. the caterpillar of a Mullein moth feeding on a plant of the genus it favours and is named after. Vivid in colour and pattern whereas the moth itself resembles a fleck of wood.