New Species - Wild Teasel

On the rough ground below the East Field a tall plant has appeared which I did not know but which turns out to be Wild Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) A common enough flower but a first record for The Beeches. It does seem to have a habit of drowning a load of insects in water collecting where the leaves meet the stem.

Orchid count 28 May

I do an annual count on 28 May of Common Spotted Orchids and for the first time the count is down on the previous year and it is significantly down as well. For context the CSO counts in 2017, 2018 and 2019 were all in the 60s. In 2020 it was way up at 208 and then more than doubled in 2021 to 442. This year it is back down to 259. Of course weather will play a part in timing but it is clear that the CSO numbers will be reduced on last year. There are areas which had dozens last year that have almost none this year - so far. At this stage I am counting rosettes rather than flowers and not all the rosettes will produce a flower. The end of year totals in 2020 and 2021 were 285 and 724 respectively so based on that I would expect we will end up with somewhere between 300 and 400 CSOs.

Major major new species - Butterfly Orchid

I have just discovered that we have a Butterfly Orchid on site (almost certainly a Greater Butterfly Orchid but we can't be sure until the flowers open). It has grown very close to our only Twayblade in the West Field. In fact with its similar basal leaves I had assumed it was a second Twayblade until the flower buds formed and I realised it was something else. Orchid species #6.

Deer in the garden

I am often confronted with a view such as the one above when I open the back door - this time I had my camera in hand!

Broad-leaved Helleborine

The first of the year has poked its head up. We had 42 last year, up from 25 the year before. It is looking like last year was an exceptional one for Orchids here and that last year's total for Common Spotted Orchids will not be achieved this year (based on numbers so far). It will be interesting to see if the same applies to Broad-leaved Helleborines. They are a much under appreciated Orchid in my view - not as showy as most but incredible when viewed close up.

Red Campion

I learned a new word today and also something about the Red Campion flowers that are gradually spreading in the wilder parts of the garden. They are dioecious which means the male and female flowers are on different plants. Here's photos of both - the female on the bottom having the five styles and the male above ten stamens.

Yellow Archangel

This is definitely a success story here and we now have one large patch in the wooded area of the East Field and a second patch below the East Field. We also have a couple of areas close to the house with the variagated garden version so I have been pulling that up every year so that it doesn't get to pollute the wild species. I think I'm winning as it gets less each year. The photo shows the large patch in the wooded area which has spread from a few stems.