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26.10.24 Late Spider Orchids
Last June, Joanne and I went to see Late spider orchids ( Ophrys fuciflora ) near Folkestone. We were privileged to be told the...
anthonyheys2
Oct 26, 20242 min read


18.09.24 Green-winged shoots
The beautiful Green-winged orchid ( Anacamptis morio ) is not common nowadays, but nevertheless widely distributed across the southern...
anthonyheys2
Sep 18, 20242 min read


13.08.24 Summer Insects
It has been noted widely in the media that there are far fewer insects around this summer than usual, maybe due to ongoing climate change...
anthonyheys2
Aug 13, 20242 min read


9.07.24 Bishop’s lace, Bishop’s wort, and Mare’s fart
These are alternative names for three July wildflowers that are out in the Front Meadow currently. Bishop’s lace is more commonly known...
anthonyheys2
Jul 9, 20242 min read


26.06.24 Pyramidal Orchids
While the Southern marsh and Common spotted orchids are continuing to flower amongst the Oxeye daisies, I started looking for the small,...
anthonyheys2
Jun 26, 20242 min read


11.06.24 Meadow Orchids Thriving
The Front Meadow is looking great this year, and not suffering from the overgrowth of tall vegetation that the Back Meadow is. Common...
anthonyheys2
Jun 11, 20241 min read


22.05.24 The Grass is as High as an Elephant’s Eye
The Back Meadow has grown incredibly high this year after all the Winter and Spring rain with mild temperatures. There is not much colour...
anthonyheys2
May 22, 20242 min read


16.04.24 Pleione Finally!
In March 2016 I was contacted by an expert Pleione grower who had made cross-pollinations of his plants and produced seed samples. Could...
anthonyheys2
Apr 16, 20242 min read


21.03.24 The British Giants
The start of our orchid season is still at least a month away, but on the 16th of March I was fortunate to be able to go on an outing to...
anthonyheys2
Mar 21, 20242 min read


29.02.24 Heath Spotted Orchids
It is Leap Year’s day and we are emerging from a mild but very wet winter in West Sussex. Gardening is impossible; the lawn and both...
anthonyheys2
Feb 29, 20242 min read


26.1.24 The Joy of Chalk
Many U.K. hardy orchids love growing in alkaline soils above chalk or limestone. So it follows that every hardy orchid and garden meadow...
anthonyheys2
Jan 26, 20242 min read


22.12.23 The Bug Orchid
Red is a Christmassy colour (robins, Santa, etc) so I am using this as a thin excuse to talk about a red, or at least dark carmine-red,...
anthonyheys2
Dec 22, 20232 min read


27.11.23 Fungi on meadows and lawns
With the weather still mild, and following all the recent relentless rain, an interesting scatter of little fungi has appeared on the...
anthonyheys2
Nov 27, 20231 min read


20.10.23 Marsh Helleborine (Epipactis palustris)
In deepest October not much of interest is happening on the wildflower meadows, so time for some out of season reminiscence. A hardy...
anthonyheys2
Oct 20, 20232 min read


26.09.23 Autumn Lady's-Tresses
The orchid season is pretty much over now for this year. If you discount the Ghost orchid (Epipogium aphyllum), which anyhow may be...
anthonyheys2
Sep 26, 20232 min read


14.08.23 One man went to mow
I have just finished cutting down both Front and Back meadows for this year. There were still a few colourful Knapweeds and Wild carrots...
anthonyheys2
Aug 14, 20232 min read


14.07.23 July Meadows
The exuberant height of meadow flowering may have passed now, in mid July, but there is still plenty of interest as we go into the last...
anthonyheys2
Jul 14, 20232 min read


27.06.23 And another thing....
I forgot to say in the previous blog post do e-mail me if you have any orchid or meadow thoughts, questions, comments, stories, or need...
anthonyheys2
Jun 27, 20231 min read


27.06.23 Pyramidal Surprise
We have been away for a few days and came back to find this Pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) flowering on the front meadow. It...
anthonyheys2
Jun 27, 20231 min read


13.06.23 Dactylorhizas peaking
Though there are still a few lower areas of sward, both front and back meadows have grown to a great height, due mostly to Oxeye daisies...
anthonyheys2
Jun 13, 20231 min read
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