Sadie in the local dis-used chalk quarry inspecting the (coughs) flowers: currently cowslips, but soon it will be packed with wild twayblade orchids
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Quote of the day:
“What wondrous life is this I lead!
Ripe apples drop about my head;
The luscious clusters of the vine
Upon my mouth do crush their wine;
The nectarine and curious peach
Into my hands themselves do reach;
Stumbling on melons, as I pass,
Ensnared with flowers, I fall on grass.”
~ Andrew Marvell
Forage in September for:
Cornelian Cherries, Sloes, Dandelion Leaves, Rosehips, Wild Hops, Blackberries, Elderberries, Damsons, Hazelnuts, Wild Strawberries, Sea Buckthorn Berries, Walnuts
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Aw, sweet Sadie photobomb! I’ve been slowly trying to build up my Primula collection, and must say that cowslips have been very prolific. 🙂
Together with borage and salisfy, cowslips are the most successful self-seeders in the garden! Not a problem really. Do you find yours cross to give you interesting babies?
Not that I’ve noticed. Most are distant from each other, and I often deadhead spent flowers, so that is probably why.
The cowslips have been fabulous this year. How wonderful having orchids to look forward to. They seem to like chalk.
We are so lucky to have a local place to visit to see them. I hope that they will be completely unaffected by the proposed East-West rail link (if that goes ahead), but the quarry is dreadfully close to their currently preferred route.
I never would have realized cowslips had escaped Wordsworth and the Lake Poets were it not for the various postings this year. Despite all the references in literature, I somehow never quite believed they were a real flower!
It’s been a fantastic year for them! They must like all this rain we’ve been having. I have visions of Cicely Mary Barker’s flower fairies when I hear their name.
How lovely to see a whole field full of them!
Yes, they are prolific this year, but strangely I haven’t noticed them on the road verges, where they normally thrive. (Might be because I haven’t been travelling about as much, of course!)
Gosh – these are lovely! How tiny they are, unless you have a giant dog. It is good to see them spread out like that. Ours are fewer and tend to be in clumps.
You are right. They are tiny compared to the ones on the local road verges. I think that is mostly to do with the free draining chalk environment. I’ve no idea about the oddly spaced and homogeneous distribution of plants, except to say that the quarry surface was pretty disturbed over large tracts this year, as though an animal (badgers?) was digging for grubs. Good observations!