Now is the perfect time to visit the reserve, as our wildflower meadow is looking beautiful. The yellows and gold’s of April and May are giving way to dusky pinks and blues, and the meadow is now a sea of colour. The flowers don’t just come in beautiful colours, they also come in all shapes and sizes. There are stands of Viper's Bugloss, deep blue spires of flowers, towering over the grassland. Greater Knapweed, with its black cylindrical heads, which are about to burst open with a bight purple starburst of a flower. Here and there, elegant pyramids of Sainfoin carpet the grassland, and the bright yellow clumps of Bird's foot-trefoil are dotted about all over the place. Look a little closer, and you can find Salad Burnet, with its "disco ball" shaped flower heads, and closer still, the tiny delicate flowers of fairy flax, once said to have been used by fairies for clothes making. In amongst the plants, grasshoppers and insects busy themselves feeding on pollen and nectar, and butterflies flutter lazily from flower to flower.
If you would like to learn a bit more about our chalk grasslands, why not come along on of our walks? We are holding a "Butterfly Discovery Walk" on Sunday 15th July. We will be exploring the flower meadows in search of butterflies, and it will be a wonderful opportunity to experience our wild flower spectacle, and learn more about butterflies. The walk starts at 2pm and is free of charge! However, booking is essential, as the walk is weather dependent, so if you would like to join me for this event, please drop me a line!
Keeley