The meadows have grown rapidly in the last 2 weeks or so, perhaps due to the generous amount of rain we had over winter, and are now two to three feet tall in places. I am a little concerned for the orchids, as most would prefer to grow in a thinner, lower sward. Nevertheless, some nice recent sunshine and moderate warmth means there are plenty of other meadow flowers coming out or just on the verge of doing so.
Yellow flowers are dominant, including Meadow buttercup (Ranunculus acris), Yellow-rattle (Rhinanthus minor), Bird’s foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), Black medick (Medicago lupulina) and some Cat’s-ear just beginning (Hypochaeris radicata).
However there are some little dashes of red from Red clover (Trifolium pratense), pink from Ragged robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi), and blue from Germander speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys). Also some white from Ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata) and Oxeye daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) just beginning to flower.
It is still a little early for the Dactylorhiza orchids, but on the back meadows there is a Southern marsh orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa), and a Common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) just coming in to flower.
Photos: 1. Front meadow Buttercups and Oxeye daisies, 2. Germander speedwell, 3. Red clover and Yellow-rattle, 4. Southern Marsh orchid, 5. Common spotted orchid
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