Mullein
07 May 2015
One good thing that happened on Election Day, whatever else may befall, was walking around with a botanist friend who kept exclaiming about the wild flowers we have here. He identified several things that weren't on the systematic list we've been keeping, including a Hoary Cinquefoil and a Spring Vetch. He was also very taken with our Hoary Mulleins (the ones with a candelabra shape), which whatever their immediate origins are classified as a rare wild plant, found only in Suffolk and Norfolk and he urged us to treasure them.
Jeremy
Alex message 1
10 Mar 2015
We have a Mahonia just outside our five bar gate, a common hardy garden shrub with hollylike leaves and sprays of scented yellow flowers, it is humming, literally!
I was attracted by the noise and found many honey bees and a couple of bumble bees. Certainly the Bumbles were there the other day because every time i go out i see them. So brave because it is still fairly chilly, but the flowers do put out a most wonderful smell and there isnt much else to attract at this time of year.
Spring is here!
Our bird feeder has at least fourteen gold finches, lots of starlings, sparrows, blackbirds, blue tits and there is a wren in the woodpile, a cock pheasant that visits regularly and a brace of partridges. Pigeons come, naturally, and a pair of collar doves.
More later.
Alex Williams
by Lydia Vulliamy.
Shingle Street is a magical place, right by the mouth of the River Ore. Typical shingle flora grow there in profusion. The great mounds of sea kale Crambe maritima predominate. The leaves die back in the winter; in spring the first shoots appear, very dark purple, crinkly and succulent. The plants fully grown are as big as shrubs, and their roots penetrate deep into the shingle.
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