New announcements from Plantlife

News of the latest campaigns from "Plantlife" in the UK. "Whilst there’s still a wintry chill in the air, Spring has arrived and bluebells, cowslips, and cuckooflowers (also known as Milkmaids and Lady’s Smock!) are blossoming on our road verges again. We’ve been reflecting on one of the busiest winter seasons ever for the road verge campaign. It’s fantastic to see so much interest and enthusiasm for more wildlife-friendly road verges and we wanted to share some good news stories with you: Last month Cambridge County Council announced a new verge management plan to support biodiversity, including cutting times sympathetic to the local flora and trials of collecting grass cuttings. It has been great to work with the council teams on this and see them bring their knowledge of the verge network to add to our best practice guidance to create a really promising new plan for Cambridgeshire’s verges. Also in the east of England, East Suffolk Council have announced 60 new wild sites, many of which are road verges, that will be part of the expanded ‘Pardon the weeds, we’re feeding the bees’ campaign which was started last year. And in Essex, following the successful wildlife-friendly management trials last summer, the scheme will be extended throughout Braintree Borough this year. Over in Wales, Monmouthshire County Council are inviting local residents have their say on the management of verge and greenspaces – if you’re local do take part in the survey. And even if you’re not local to the area, you might like to have a look at the Council’s brilliant Nature Isn’t Neat project, which is changing how verges and greenspaces are managed and raising awareness about the importance of pollinators and wild spaces. What’s happening where? Many of you have been in touch to ask what’s being done for road verges in your local area, and we’re keen to celebrate the steps councils are taking to make road verge management more sustainable and wildlife-friendly. So we wanted to share with you our map highlighting the positive progress being made on our verges. We’re hearing about new projects every few weeks – there’s so much great work happening - so don’t worry if you project isn’t yet featured. We’ll be updating the map throughout the year and featuring more case studies and local projects as we go. If you work in a local authority and want to let us know about the wildlife-friendly verge projects you are working on, please do get in touch with us. We’d be delighted to learn about your work and discuss your projects with you." Contact Plantlife at : https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk

Wild flowers and "Plantlife"

This is a good time to get out looking for wildflowers in our verges, hedges and nature reserves. This is an extract from Plantlife's latest newsletter.

Dear supporter, Happy Spring! Get ready to hunt for woodland flowers, learn more about how we are protecting ancient trees and help us speak up for wild flowers in Government. Read on...

Great British Wildflower Hunt 2018

The 2018 Great British Wildflower Hunt launches next week with a new list for those who enjoy a woodland walk. Help us discover where those bluebells and primroses are blooming!  Here is a link to Plantlife's web site where you can find out much more about the important work done for wildflowers :https://mailchi.mp/plantlife/plantlife-news-april-2018?e=3369987e57

National Meadow Day , Curry Rivel

National Meadows Day - Saturday 1st July.

Curry Rivel Wildlife Survey Group

To mark this day we invite you to visit our own local meadows located in Holdens Way for a guided walk.

Eastfield Community Meadow and Batty Piece, a private nature reserve and wild flower meadow.

Car parking by Westfield Recreation Field.

Contact us for details of guided walks between 2pm and 5pm.

Please contact me for alternative arrangements

Contact David German 01458 259688 or email at davidgerman555@gmail.com

               

        Pyramidal Orchid                                            Marbled white butterfly                       Grass vetchling and   Goat’s-beard

"Meadows, once a feature of every parish in Somerset are now an increasingly fragile part of our national heritage but all is not lost. National Meadows Day is the perfect way to explore and enjoy the flowers and wildlife of Somerset's magnificent meadows and understand their special place in our shared social and cultural history.

 "Beyond being a quintessential sight of summer, meadows' value to our wildlife cannot be overstated — a single healthy meadow can be home to over 80 species of wild flowers, such as cuckoo flower, yellow rattle, orchids, knapweed and scabious, compared to most modern agricultural pasture which typically supports under a dozen species."

Claire Parton, ‘Save Our Magnificent Meadows’   Project Manager for Somerset Wildlife Trust

Plantlife International

A follow up to my last post.

Here is a link to the latest newsletter from Plantlife for the month of April:

http://us8.campaign-archive2.com/?u=6387c261b542b56fc9cdf7726&id=86ae6360e6&e=3369987e57


Visit their web site on this link. Plantlife.org.uk -    http://www.plantlife.org.uk/

Plantlife and our local meadow

I get the Plantlife news letter every month and this is an extract from the latest copy.I recommend it. Here is their web site:     http://www.plantlife.org.uk **********************************************************************************************

Welcome to our September e-news Road verge campaign Great news! Over 15,000 people have now signed to support better verge management for nature! If you haven't already, please sign our road verge petition today.

Also in the newsletter they highlight wildflower gardens .

Wildflower gardens can be unkempt and a bit scruffy, right? Well, they don’t have to be. There’s a place for wild flowers in modern contemporary gardens, too.

If you prefer a clean-cut, well-designed and contemporary garden, native plants can be used to great effect in providing both the structure and the ever-changing palette of colour. In fact, many are already tried-and-tested stalwarts of the designer's repertoire, while others can be put to great effect if you’re willing to be a bit more adventurous...

Click here to read this full feature by Plantlife's botanical specialist,  Dr Trevor Dines.

In another item they highlight a flower we have in our local meadow  and here is my photo taken earlier in June in 2014 and just starting to flower

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Out and about

Watch out for...

Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria)

This spiky, yellow plant grows in single stems to 60cm in size. The small yellow petals reveal themselves in stages from the bottom upwards and the leaves have jagged edges with whitish undersides. 

Agrimony is widespread except for in Scotland where it can only be found in some southern parts. It can also be found on hedge banks, road verges and in other grassy places. 

Some people use agrimony to represent thankfulness.