I thought I would have a change this week and talk you through my mini meadow which lies at the centre of the garden to one side of the dead oak tree. It starts with the grass not being cut from Christmas until August, just round the edge and up the middle. It used to be that mowing would stop in that area from April to August and unknowingly we were cutting off the orchid and all the cuckoo flowers, Cardamine pratensis! Last year it was too wet to cut the grass in Jan, Feb and March and this was the result.
There are 5 flower families that have chosen to grow here (apart from lots of others) which I will discuss with you and talk about how long they must have been growing in the British countryside and what their uses were. I think it will be easier if I go through the photos in date order.
This is what greeted me on April 4th this year. I don’t know what sort of orchid it is, it just appeared by itself last year. The leaf is like the leaf of a Common Spotted orchid, but the flower is very different. I can see that this year the orchid has split into 2 plants which is fantastic, you can see the second smaller plant on the right.
This is the male Orange Tip butterfly, sorry, not quite in focus, unfortunately I haven’t been able to photograph the female, but this is the butterfly species that will lay its eggs on the cuckoo flower, Cardamine pratensis which flowered for the first time last year.
And this is what I photographed on 9th May, lots of cuckoo flower, just waiting for the Orange Tip butterfly to come back!
By the 18th May the orchid had grown quite a bit and it was obvious that it had split into 2 plants this year.
The 18th was also when I noticed that there was a new flower in the meadow. Last year my gardener had sprinkled Yellow Rattle, Rhinanthus minor, seeds to try and weaken the grass and give the flowers more of a chance to grow. Lovely to see about a dozen new plants.
The flowers developed quickly and were soon forming seed pods which will hopefully spread about doing their work once more, over a wider area this time.
The night of the 23rd May was when I had another visit from a Roe deer, it had obviously wandered through the meadow leaving its calling card! It was lucky my orchid survived as the metal post marking the spot was bent over at 45 degrees and I was wondering what could have done it, now I know!
Amongst all the hundreds if not thousands of creeping buttercup, Ranunculus repens, that are in the meadow, there always seems to be one lonely meadow buttercup, Ranunculus acris, in a different place each year. The flowers are slightly different and the leaf is very different. This was photographed on 27th May.
A flower that pops up in all the grass here is self heal or Prunella vulgaris. This manages to grow even in grass that is cut each week. Used way back in olden days by anyone who used sharp tools. The leaves used to be ground to a powder with wood ash, made into a poultice and applied to cuts which then healed very quickly, not something I have ever tried! It is very like Ajuga but with a smaller flower and a different leaf. When I was woodcarving, I just used a plaster when I or my students cut themselves!
By 7th June the orchid is opening more flowers each day and you can now see the smaller second flower.
By 14th June the meadow has taken on a different look. All the cuckoo flower has gone and now we have thousand of Conopodium majus or pig nut flowering.This flower is rather like a small cow parsley but with a different leaf.
Way back in olden days, before Sir Walter Raleigh brought us the potato, our ancestors used to dig up the little tubers that this plant has beneath the soil. Their pigs would turn the soil over and the tubers could then be cooked and eaten, no, I do not intend to try eating them!
This image was taken last week when the orchid flower spike was almost fully open. I think the meadow is now at its peak, but will keep an eye on it to see if any more new plants open their flowers.
I hope you like the new addition to the mini meadow, my metal Orange Tip butterfly! It will rust with age, I just hope the real butterflies aren’t put off visiting by the new giant !
Looking at the meadow it can be seen that it divides into almost 4 equal quarters, one sunny and quite dry, one sunny and wet with an underground stream beneath, one shady but drier and one which is where the orchid chose to put itself, shady and really wet on top of the underground stream, in fact it sits in the wet all winter, surely it must have Marsh orchid in its DNA! The areas with the most variety of flowers are the damp areas, I think I must try and find some flowers that like drier areas.
The information that I have regarding how these flowers and leaves were used way back in history has been gleaned from my wild flower book by Sarah Raven, she has done so much research into their uses and makes fascinating reading.
I love my mini meadow!
I don’t believe it, the Roe deer visited again last night, droppings left in the middle of the path up the centre of the meadow. This is exactly one month since its last visit and I noticed the other day that the rose leaves had just grown nicely on the Iceberg roses that had been eaten last time, they have been pruned again! There are also deep foot marks very near the orchid, it had better be very careful and not be tempted to nibble it. So much going on while I’m asleep!
You are now up to date with the mini meadow, there is always something new to see, more paths, hedgehog size, weaving their way through, as well as lots of bees, butterflies and moths. It is amazing what turns up when you stop cutting the grass!
What an interesting spot in the garden! Seems so much more entertaining than another square of grass, and I’m amazed by how much you have had show up.
My little meadow is being shaded out, and the grass is giving way to more shade tolerant things but it’s still well loved. Fortunately no deer lying around but I did have to scare one out of the garden this morning!
Glad you like it Frank, I agree, it is far more interesting than having plain mown grass and amazing what altering the cutting regime can produce. I was awake at 5am this morning, but turned over and went back to sleep, if only I had got up, I might have seen the deer. Lovely creatures but I wish they wouldn’t eat my roses!
I was really interested to read this, Pauline, so thanks for taking the time to write it – so much going on in your meadow!
Thanks Cathy, there is certainly a lot going on, I think we must have had a whirlwind last night as well as rain as it is all looking a bit battered this morning.
Lovely to see your wildflower meadow doing so well. And how exciting to have orchids.
Thanks Liz. I was so thrilled when the orchid appeared last year, would never have thought of planting one in the shadiest, wettest part of the meadow, but then, nature knows best!
This is a really interesting read, thanks for taking the time to write it up. I would think it’s a good thing to have different conditions in the various areas of your meadow, that must increase the diversity of plants.
Fingers crossed the orchid survives the rampaging roe deer! And I love your new addition to the meadow.
Glad you like my new butterfly Helen, it is going rusty already, so soon should be orange and stand out more. I am loving the variety of plants that pop up, you never know what is going to appear when you stop mowing!