Tuesday, June 30, 2009

30th June 2009

The first flower of the Greater Knapweed (Centurea scabiosa) has come out. This one flower is down low to the ground.

Greater Knapweed (centurea scabiosa)

30th _june_09 30th June 2009

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Monday, June 29, 2009

29th June 2009

The Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) is at it's best. If you come across it growing it's worth bending low to smell the sweet scent given off by the flowers.

Buy some seeds and sow it in a bed in the garden, the flowers attract many beneficial insects to the sweet nectar, including Bumble Bees who need all the help we can give them. An added bonus with clover is that the roots have Nitrogen fixing bacteria inhabiting them. The bacteria take Nitrogen out of the air and form nodules on the root of clover. When the plant dies the nodules are left in the ground releasing the stored Nitrogen that other plants can use to grow strongly.

Red Clover growing in the bank. Red Clover growing alongside Vetch in the bank. Vetch is also another Nitrogen fixer, it too has nodules form on it's roots that add to the Nitrogen content of the soil.

29th_june_09 29th June 2009

29th_june_08 29th June 2008

Sunday, June 28, 2009

28th June 2009

A lovely plant that comes up regularly every year in the bank is Common Agrimony (Agrimonia eupateria). It is an old medicinal plant and Greek legend has it that King Mithridates Eupator  (132-63 B.C)  was the first person to discover  the healing powers of Agrimony.

Agrimony growing in the bank. (Agrimonia eupateria)  Common Agrimony (Agrimonia eupateria)

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Saturday, June 27, 2009

27th June 2009

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Friday, June 26, 2009

26th June 2009

Last night we had quite a terrific thunderstorm into the early hours of the morning. Now in the morning the air feels cool fresh and clear, you just have to breath deep to drink it in.

Everything is damp and the air feels cool, a slight mist hangs in the trees.

26th_june_09 26th June 2009

26th_june_08 26th June 2008

Thursday, June 25, 2009

25th June 2009

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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

24th June 2009

A clear intense blue sky with not a cloud in sight, bright sun with a brisk cool wind blowing over the hedges.

More Blackberry flowers have bloomed and the promise of plenty of Blackberries this year, looks good.

Blackberry flowers (Rubus fruticosus) Blackberry flowers in profusion.

24_june_09 24th June 2009

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

23 rd June 2009

In the bank out from the hedges a lovely wild rose grows that forms a short growing tangled bush.

Wild Rose bush Short tangled Wild Rose bush.

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Monday, June 22, 2009

22nd June 2009

A really exciting discovery made today growing on one of our ivies.  An Ivy Broomrape (Orobanche hederae). It appeared on one of the variegated forms that we have growing in a largish pot.

Broomrape's strange plants that contain no chlorophyll themselves. They are essentially parasitic plants that attache themselves to the roots of another plant to gain the nutrients  to live.

The host plant, in this case an Ivy does all the work making sugars and starches necessary for living on and the Broomrape just takes what it needs.

Broomrape's are not very common themselves, so it was with some excitement to find one growing on an Ivy plant. It seems to be fairly substantial in size, in this picture is the main flower spike, but there are another five more to come up and flower.

Hopefully I can collect plenty of seed and intend to try and establish them around the garden on wild Ivy that grows around.

Ivy Broomrape (Orobanche hederae) The flower spike of an Ivy Broomrape (Orobanche hederae)

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Sunday, June 21, 2009

21st June 2009

A slightly coolish start brings a freshness to the day.

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Saturday, June 20, 2009

20th June 2009

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Friday, June 19, 2009

19th June 2009

The first Blackberry flower came out for today.

Blackberry flower First Blackberry flower of the year.

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Bee visits a flower A bee visits a flower

Thursday, June 18, 2009

18th June 2009

It's cloudy and overcast this morning with a little drizzle coming down, but it still feels good with some warmth with a hint of coolness to the light wind blowing.

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

17th June 2009

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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

16th June 2008

More trimmings have been cut from the hedge by those that live by us. Even though she walked by them she left them in the track. I really cannot understand the mentality that leaves it just like this marring the area in this way.

I don't mean this in the ordinary tidy up mentality, it is just the feeling of total disrespect that it seems to engender.

hedge_trimmings Left hedge trimmings.

16th_june_09 16th June 2009

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Monday, June 15, 2009

15th June 2009

A soft gentle wind pushes clouds overhead, insects dance within the shelter of the hedges.

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Sunday, June 14, 2009

14th June 2009

Unfortunately in today's photo there is evidence of uncaring attitude toward the environment. We do have to live next to other people who live by other agendas. In this case they decided to clip back some of the natural growth. With no discretion at all they chopped back the soft ferns that have no ability to scratch a vehicle. To compound it, all the clippings are just left in the track. A small fraction can be seen within the photo, but more is present out of shot.

It would have taken very little time to just gather up the clippings and dispose of them out of sight!

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Saturday, June 13, 2009

13th June 2008

  Curling out from the hedge and looking very strange, the Bryony (Bryonia dioca) stem has been flattened out by an affliction called fascination.  Fascination can occur in many plants making them look very strange. It occurs when the growing stems are damaged in some way, either by insects, viral or an inherited characteristic. The result is uneven growth within the stem so that rather than forming a sort of cylindrical aspect to the stem, it becomes flattened.

Many fascinated plants only last a season, no doubt this Bryony will as the top growth is herbaceous (growing for the season and dying back for winter).

Flattened fascinated stem of Bryony (Bryonia dioca)  Fascinated stem curling out of the hedge.

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Friday, June 12, 2009

12th June 2009

Our wild roses (Rosa canina) are some of the most delicate and delightful flowers that grow in the British hedgerow. They are open to a large variation in colour and variances can be found in very close proximity to each other.

Here is a near pure white form growing not far from the delicate pink I posted on the 10th June.

A wild white rose (Rosa canina) Wild white rose.

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12th_june_08 12th June 2008

Thursday, June 11, 2009

11th June 2009

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