A "lawn" area hosts four native orchid species: above centre a white form of Common-spotted orchid.
Click on any picture to enlarge it.
Above, left to right, a Fragrant orchid flowering for the third year; Common twayblade; and a couple of Southern Marsh orchids.
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| Fragrant orchid. Note its long spurs. |
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| Common Twayblade |
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| Southern Marsh orchid |
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| Ragged robin |
Hundreds of Cowslips have all gone to seed now as have dozens of Snakes' head fritillaries, below.
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| Bugle, an important food source for butterflies. |
Yellow Rattle, a hemi-parasitic annual, is firmly established throughout the garden.
Cow Parsley finally doing well.
Glorious shades of leaf colours: beech and maples.
Grass pollen is vital for certain beetle species
Decades old Yellow ant hill containing probably over 100,000 ants and reaching a metre down into the ground. Green woodpeckers regularly visit to feed on ants.
Fruit set on the pears and apple trees looks to be somewhat disastrous this year.
Common-spotted orchid reproducing vegetatively.
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| Vegetable bed with perennial spinach and self sown beetroot and "Spis bladene" Kale. |
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| Tree heather |
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| Bog garden next to a pond |
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| Royal fern on left. |
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| a formal area of hostas around a bay tree. |
Compost bin crawling with hundreds of Brandling worms
Nettles for Red Admirals etc., butterflies.
Holly flowers have set well
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| Fine Spear thistle |
Red Campion
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| Alliums |
This Wisteria is dying and a seedling has grown nearby and is flowering after a few years.
Two colour forms of Harlequin ladybirds mating. I have given up trying to control this foreign insect. So far native Seven-spot ladybirds are still doing well but some rarer natives have not been observed recently.
You enjoy nature walks, led by me, with
Haywards Heath u3a, nature walks group.
Above, left to right, a Fragrant orchid flowering for the third year; Common twayblade; and a couple of Southern Marsh orchids.
Hundreds of Cowslips have all gone to seed now as have dozens of Snakes' head fritillaries, below.
Yellow Rattle, a hemi-parasitic annual, is firmly established throughout the garden.
Cow Parsley finally doing well.
Glorious shades of leaf colours: beech and maples.
Grass pollen is vital for certain beetle species
Decades old Yellow ant hill containing probably over 100,000 ants and reaching a metre down into the ground. Green woodpeckers regularly visit to feed on ants.
Fruit set on the pears and apple trees looks to be somewhat disastrous this year.
Common-spotted orchid reproducing vegetatively.
Compost bin crawling with hundreds of Brandling worms
Nettles for Red Admirals etc., butterflies.
Holly flowers have set well
Red Campion
This Wisteria is dying and a seedling has grown nearby and is flowering after a few years.
Two colour forms of Harlequin ladybirds mating. I have given up trying to control this foreign insect. So far native Seven-spot ladybirds are still doing well but some rarer natives have not been observed recently.
You enjoy nature walks, led by me, with Haywards Heath u3a, nature walks group.
1 comment:
Beautifully detailed blog! The posts about local wildlife and nature walks are incredibly inspiring. The observations and photos, especially of the damselflies and orchids, make me appreciate the natural beauty of Sussex even more. Thanks for sharing these wonderful insights and experiences!
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