This wonderful drift of poppies and cornflowers are not actually on Hampstead Heath but in the OMVED gardens in Highgate where we were lucky enough to be able to hold two of the Highgate Festival concerts last week. The gardens stretch down the hill towards Crouch End, a gravel path snaking its ways through a meadow of poppies, daisies, borage and poppies to a lush wild pond and vegetable garden with the Ally Pally in the distance. (For more on the Highgate Festival and our concerts, see the Salon Music blog.)
However, it is not only in the OMVED garden that the poppies are in full flow this year. Driving around Suffolk last weekend the hedgerows were laden with them. (See the previous blog for the Suffolk roses!) This was speeding along the A12 and is a poor showing of them compared to some.
And some of the colours…. Even on a dull day, they are both so vibrant and so delicate.
And, since the heath has had a bit of poor showing over the last couple of weeks while we have been invovled in the Highgate festival, here is particularly jewel like cow parsley blossom found on my way down to Kenwood.
Roses, roses – and more roses….
Spectacular display of colours. Very clear photography.
A new policy in the UK to reduce cutting hedgerows along major roads to encourage wildlife.
Most tree and shrub flowers are produced on year-old twigs. Annual cutting removes these twigs, so there are no flowers, no berries and no nuts. This has a big impact on a wide range of wildlife, from insects such as butterflies and moths, through birds such as thrushes Hedge cut one side only. (especially redwings and fieldfares), to mammals such as dormice. Only climbing plants such as brambles and roses produce good fruit crops in hedgerows that are cut every year. The second reason is that the bigger a hedge, the more wildlife it supports. It is estimated that every year a hedgerow is left uncut it will gain two species of breeding bird; whilst some insects, such as the brown hairstreak butterfly, only lay their eggs on new growth. If this new growth is cut off
each autumn or winter the eggs will die; one reason why the brown hairstreak is now so rare. But there are exceptions. Partridges, yellowhammers and whitethroats prefer to nest in short hedges, and birds such as lapwing and skylark prefer open landscapes. Hedges should be kept low in areas that are
home to important populations of these declining birds.
An excellent adn much overdue policy – thank you for explaining how importatn it is, Allan. Let us hope that it is widely adopted.