A Botanical Journey mostly from Kent & SE England

I'd been given a tip that there were some nice Bee orchid variants at Mersham near Ashford, so I set off to see them and botanically record species I found at the same time around the nearby village of Aldington. Unfortunately the tip didn't come off, but I still had a great time and found plenty of the usual Bee Orchids to marvel at. Ophrys apifera Some deep coloured Pyramidal Orchids dotted a grass slope in amongst the Bee Orchids Anacamptis pyramidalis A Marbled White, one of many, resting on Black Medick. A Small Heath on Hop Trefoil Hare's Foot Clover. Trifolium arvense Common Centaury gave a dazzling bright pink display en masse on the sunny slopes. Centaurium erythraea Yellow-wort wasn't about to be left out. it only opens in full sun and being a sunny day, they put on a fine display for me. Blacksto...

Ranscombe Farm is a wildflower delight and no matter what time of year you visit, you are likely to find something special and this day was no exception. Very close to the car park in Longhoes Field were numerous beautiful Corn Cockles. Agrostemma githago A bumblebee on Red Clover ( Trifolium pratense ) White Bryony draped itself around trees and shrubs on the field edges, with its tendrils tightly coiling other plants for support. Bryonia dioica This is Broad-Leaved Cudweed, an endangered species that plantlife has featured on its Back from the Brink project.  See https://naturebftb.co.uk/ for details of this ambitious project. Longhoes and Kitchen Fields have thousands of them, though this was the first in flower that I could find. Filago pyramidata Lucerne with its bright blue flowers lined the approach road. Medicago sativa subsp sativa The declining Common Rockrose was p...