Butterflies seem to be flourishing in this long, hot summer.

 

 Runner Beans ramping- these are the old variety 'Scarlet Emperor'.

 

 A day trip to the North Kent coast. Walking from Chestfield and Swalecliffe to Whitstable I was pleased to see lots of Hog Fennel (Peucedanum officinale) which is only found in a few locations in the UK in Kent and Essex. Tankerton Slopes as seen above is said to be the largest colony and it seems to be particularly abundant this year. 

Six-Spot Burnet on Field Scabious.

 

The south is parched -particularly on chalk- but the wildflowers persist.

 The Globe Thistles and the Sea Hollies look like they might be related...

...but they belong to different genera: Echinops and Eryngium.

 Both are much visited by bees.

 

 The Jersey Tiger is no longer confined to the southernmost parts of England. It's range is extending northwards; I see quite regularly in London and Hertfordshire. The striped forewing is striking; the orange underwing is spectacular when it unfurls in flight.

 

 A mixed herbaceous border is manna for pollinators.

 

 A few months ago I planted three small pots of Fennel in the herb garden I made at the music school. Now they're rampant! Fennel will tough it out on poor, parched ground but here it grows in a rich loamy compost that's watered regularly. The difference is plain to see.

 

Great Mullein (Verbascum thapsus). Prolific self-seeder in sunny spots at the music school.  

 

 I think this is a Green-veined White though it only has a tinge of green and they are usually found in damp habitats feeding on the wild Crucifers not Lavender.

  Seeing a good many Gatekeepers in the grounds of the music school at the moment. The time of their emergence is generally round about now. The woodland walk with brambles is ideal habitat for them resembling as it does a woodland ride. The Marjoram in the borders is one of their favoured sources of nectar.

 

Comma

 Brimstone

 One side of this meadow area at the music school is grassy with flowers, the other is flowery with grasses. I treat the grassy side like the hay meadows of old and cut it at some point after midsummer. The flowery side is mass of Knapweeds at the moment which I will leave till they go to seed.

 I would like to say I got the scythe out but I used the brush cutter, then the strimmer, then the lawnmower...

 

 The white form of Rosebay Willowherb. Never seen in the wild, at least not by me but I do see it planted in gardens from time to time. The pink is definitely invasive, the white less so (it is said).   

 

Rosebay Willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium), a common sight by railway lines.

 

Spring flowers gone to seed add another season of interest e.g. Honesty (Lunaria annua). 

 

High summer: tall grasses and tall wildflowers.

 

 I walked a couple of my favourite butterfly walks this week. A decent enough showing of common butterflies but not abundant. Hard to say whether we're having a good or bad year. 

 The dry, sunny spring into summer should have helped. Then again the parched conditions have restricted the growth of wildflowers i.e. food plants. On both these routes Brambles in flower were the main forage for pollinators.  

Mellow Mallow

 

Marbled White takes flight.

 

 Sunset on the longest day, the summer solstice, from the Weston Hills overlooking Baldock. The skies had been cloudy then cleared to reveal a fiery orb in a haze of grey and pink.

Self seeder: this single Musk Mallow in a sea of Munstead Lavender...

 The self-seeders in my front garden are always guerrilla gardening. I see Bloody Cransebill has made good its escape through the railings joining Michaelmas Daisy, Herb Robert and Red Valerian. Likewise Trailing Bellflower has trailed out into the world.

 Here is a wonderful though unintended juxtaposition. In the foreground is Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare) which grows wild in the UK. I grew one in my front garden a year or two back which self-seeded through the railings into the gaps and cracks in the pavement.

 In the background there are a couple of towering specimens of Echium wildpretti. The Giant Echiums -sometimes called Giant Viper's bugloss- are native to the Canary Islands and these two are self-seeded descendants of one I planted at the front five or six years ago.

 Two distinctly different though closely related species from the same family Boraginaceae have both prospered in the same way in the same urban location. Viper's Bugloss is invariably mentioned in lists of the five or ten best native plants to grow for bees and its giant relative would certainly make the non-native shortlist.

 The kitchen garden I made at the music school is well underway. All the herbs I planted in the square bed are flourishing and the Runner Beans are starting to run. The row of Munstead Lavender has settled in nicely. The Rosemary bushes I transplanted seem to be sulking a bit, hopefully they'll pick up. Plenty of Sage and Oregano which was there already. 

 

 Cutting the long grass in one of the meadow areas at the music school. The tall grasses going to seed are picturesque but on the verge of toppling into a thick mat and docks and brambles are starting to appear. A peasant of old would use a scythe but I am a latter day peasant so I got the brushcutter out.

 Most people worship the sun but gardeners pray for rain. In the past week my prayers have been answered. 

 Spring was a virtual drought in south-easterly England. February had been very wet so the dry March was not a problem, plenty of moisture in the soil. However there were no April showers to speak of; I actually got the hosepipes and sprinklers out later in the month. Watering in England in April??

 This continued into May and plants were starting to wilt with no rain and record heat. We had flaming June in May but fortunately May weather has arrived in June. Ah, damp cold days at last- glorious!

 

Hence the colour in the painter's palette: Cornflower blue.

 

 Giant Scabious (Cephalaria gigantea) attracts a multitude of pollinators: bumblebees, honeybees, solitary bees, hoverflies, butterflies and moths. 

 This Red Admiral was very interested in my potting table, or rather the splashes of water I made as I worked. It was a hot day and butterflies need to drink; note the long tongue supping...

Mellow yellow.

 

Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena)

 

 Summer daze.

 

 Wild Clary (Salvia vebenaca) in the wildflower meadow at the music school. This is a seeded meadow (before my time) and I imagine it must have been a mix of generalists e.g. Ox-Eye Daisy and chalk specialists like the Clary.

 Curiously I have noted the absence of S. vebenaca in past years and considered trying to introduce it. And suddenly here it is! Then again the meadow is usually a mass of Ox-Eye Daisies yet they are sparse this year. Wild flowers are tenacious but highly variable in their growth from one year to the next. Weather is key: no doubt the warm dry spring has favoured some species, others less so.