Wild Flowers in the Gardens (at Home)

We are currently re-organising the Gardens so we can focus on Sedums, Stonecrops &c.: removing many of the Wild Flowers, introduced to attract Wildlife but subsequently becoming essentially un-manageable.

Nevertheless, we will be keeping some Wild Flowers, including:

Bird's-Foot Trefoil (introduced and self-seeded)

Biting Stonecrop (introduced)

Black Horehound (introduced and self-seeded)

Black Medick (introduced)

Bladder Campion (introduced and self-seeded)

Brooklime (introduced)

Common Ragwort (introduced and self-seeded)

Creeping Thistle (self-seeded)

Feverfew (introduced and self-seeded)

Green Alkanet (self-seeded)

Hop Trefoil (introduced and self-seeded)

Ivy-Leaved Toadflax (introduced and self-seeded)

Narrow-Leaved Bird's-Foot Trefoil (introduced)

Navelwort (introduced)

Oxeye Daisy (introduced)

Red Valerian (self-seeded)

Reflexed Stonecrop (introduced)

Sand Lucerne/Medick (introduced and self-seeded)

White Clover (self-seeded)

White Stonecrop (introduced)

Wild Basil (introduced and self-seeded)

The Craneflies are back

We photographed this character on the Crossness Nature Reserve:

The Cranefly Recording Scheme (UK) suggest it to be either Tipula paludosa (fourteen antennal segments) or Tipula oleracea (thirteen antennal segments) viz.

We think we can count fourteen segments so seemingly Tipula paludosa:

Our first Ivy Bees of 2021

Two of four or so Bees on Ivy flowering beside Bourne Road (in Bexley) where it crosses the A2 (the sightings have been submitted to iRecord):