A Botanical Journey mostly from Kent & SE England

This is an account of a day out in early June, just a month ago, but it seems longer! Many of the plants featured can still be found flowering now in Kent, and certainly can be found the further North you go. I started out at Kent Wildlife Trust's Holborough reserve, a very rare alkaline fen over chalk in the Medway Valley. It is renowned for its marsh orchids in particular, but there is much to see there. As I walked into the first meadow I found Meadowsweet coming into flower. I've just returned from a weeks holiday in Wales and this is very common and in full flower now. Thousands of plants can be seen along roadsides in certain areas, especially on Anglesey. Filipendula ulmaria The deep purple flowers of the Marsh Thistle were next spotted. This can grow to 2m tall and often on dry places, not just marshes and bogs. Cirsium palustre In the ditches grew Watercress, an attractive crucifer that is obviously ed...

I'm well behind on my blogs and the temptation is to bin out of date photos and move on. however, this day had so many unusual and beautiful flowers, I had to write it up. Unusually we started on the coast near Littlestone with good views of Greatstone Bay out towards Dymchurch, Hythe and Folkestone. We had decided to walk the coast path from Littlestone to Dymchurch, quite a long walk, but hopefully with plenty of interesting things to see. While getting ready we even bumped into a botanical friend, Owen, who is also the Romney Marsh Ranger and a great source of information if you are new to the area. Sure enough we soon saw lots of Wild Onion growing, most looking like the plant on the left of the photo, however I did find one with the flower open. Also called Crow Garlic. Allium vineale The first of the season's Pyramidal Orchids were coming into flower. Of course, at the time of writing, they are in full bloom all over ...

It seems I have little hope of catching up with my blogs to give the species found the credit they deserve, so in order to catch up, I'm combining a few trips into one blog. First up was a recording trip to an urban industrial area with few records. Much of it was pretty parkland with not even a daisy in the grass verges. However, a lake provided some relief as a refuge for species other than grass. Above is Scrophularia auriculata , Water Figwort, growing on the lake edges. Below is Scrophularia nodosa , the dry land counterpart, found in a woodland strip nearby. Ranunculus sceleratus , Celery-leaved Buttercup, another lake margin inhabitant. Not all the grasses were sprayed. I found plenty of Torilis nodosa , Knotted Hedge Parsley by a road. A Holly Blue on a hedgerow at Crossways, Dartford. Stachys sylvatica , Hedge Woundwort has its own Shiedbug as shown here all on one plant. Woundwort Shiedbug, road ver...