Our Wildflower Meadow, June

Our wildflower meadow is a small area of the Village Gren behind the Childrens’ Playground, which has been set aside and seeded to encourage our native flora to grow. It is fascinating to observe the different flowers that appear through the year, and every month brings new additions to the display. Wildflower meadows don’t usually produce such a colourful display as a cultivated garden, but individually the flowers can be spectacular. You can also spot the origins of some of our garden flowers, such as the Cranesbill which we recognise in our flower beds as a Geranium.

Last month the meadow was full of Kidney Vetch. The flowers have finished but the seed heads remain. This was the Kidney Vetch in flower:

The Field Scabious is another pretty wildflower that now has many cultivated derivatives:

The Common Knapweed looks like a thistle, but it has no prickles.

More spectacular is the Greater Knapweed:

The Ox-eye Daisy is a large, very common and very prolific wildflower. It provides a wonderful infill for a meadow as you can see in the heading photo.

Next to the meadow are a group of trees providing a shaded environment which some species prefer. Here we find the Large Yellow Loosestrife.

I use PlantNet, a free online academic resource for plant identification. You can also download an app for your phone. It wasn’t too sure about the next one, it’s definitely a Cranesbill and could be a Druce’s Cranesbill. There are very many varieties!

Finally, in a patch behind the Community Orchard I found some St. John’s Wort. Any plant with Wort in the name was thought to have healing properties. Unfortunately, those same people also thought that if a plant was shaped like the part of the body that ails you, it must do you good so don’t rely on the healing properties of all Worts!

Do visit our wild flowers on the Village Green, but please look and enjoy, leaving the flowers where they are for others to seet and insects to feed on. Last year, there was an orchid in the meadow until someone trampled it so please tread very carefully if you want to take a closer look.