Tag: Ground ivy

Posted in nature

Amazing Insects

Posted on by BITM

The first of August is the start of the harvest and autumn is beginning to set in slowly now; a time I enjoy.

The weather has recently changed in the south, we have had rain over the past few weeks, meaning the parched lawns are beginning to green up once again and require cutting. I have never known a year where we haven’t cut the majority of lawns for such an extended period over the summer; usually it isn’t until the end of July into August when this occurs.

The wetter conditions are making it difficult to pick a time to undertake the Big Butterfly Count this year, although I am still seeing various butterflies and day flying moths around at the moment; Including the Jersey tiger moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria).

This beautiful medium sized moth (between 5.2 to 6.5 cm in length) is often seen in the south with the range growing upwards towards London and now Hertfordshire; found in Gardens, hedgerows and coastal areas. The caterpillars can be found between September through to the following May, surviving winter as larvae. The adults often visit Buddleia while the food source for caterpillars are Common Nettle (Urtica dioica), White Dead-nettle (Lamium album), Borage (Borago officinalis), plantains (Plantago Spp.), Ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea) and Bramble (Rubus fruiticosus) amongst other herbaceous plants.

I have also seen a small copper (Lycaena phlaeas) butterfly recently.

This small (3.2- 3.5 cm) orange coloured butterfly can be found on waste ground as well as heath, moor, grass and woodland environments where the soil is chalky and the ground poor in nutrients. The caterpillars eat Sorrels and Broad-leaved Dock (Rumex obtusifolius).

This has been a wonderful year for ladybirds due to the very hot weather at the beginning of spring causing a huge increase in aphids. Out of the 46 different types in the UK, I mostly see Six-spot and Harlequin ladybirds.  A couple of weeks ago I noticed another as it flew into the van; the 14 Spot ladybird (Propylea quattuordecimpunctata).

Much smaller than the six-spotted ladybird, this yellow and black beetle can be seen throughout the UK from May to September.

I finally saw a flower crab spider (Misumena vatia) while pruning a shrub too. As seen in the photo below, they are often white but the females of the species can change their colour to a yellow tint in order to blend into its surroundings better.

Usually noticed between May and August they are commonly seen in southern England. The different sexes differ in size, the males are half the size of the females which are between 9 to 11mm in length. These spiders will wait and ambush prey rather than spin webs and can eat various insects including moths and bees,

Posted in Allotment, nature

What’s up Buttercup?

Posted on by BITM

With May finally here, spring is now in full swing. Lots of things are growing on the allotment from seedlings to fruit, even the Rhubarb is almost ready to pick.

During a woodland walk, on the Easter weekend, I observed the first Speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) butterfly of the year. Plus local ornamental Cherry trees (Prunus) began their spectacular show at the same time; later joined by the flowers of the Hawthorn (Crataegus) , Rowan (Sorbus) and Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum).

Over the last few weeks, more wildflowers have started to bloom, including Buttercups (Ranunculus), Stitchwort (Stellaria), Ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea) Honesty (Lunaria annua) and Hedge garlic (Alliaria petiolata) along with Cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis).

Ground-ivy
Cuckoo flower

Another butterfly that began to emerge recently is the Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines). Hedge garlic and Cuckoo flower are important food sources for Orange-tip caterpillars, so it is lovely to think these butterflies will be laying eggs on the plants I’ve noticed to ensure future generations; the verge not being mown, allowing both plants to develop, enabling this.

The ‘No mow May’ campaign is back this year. Encouraging us to avoid mowing lawns in order to encourage a wide variety of wildflowers to bloom (including rare ones), thus increasing the availability of pollen and nectar for pollinators as they start to emerge (along with helping butterfly populations, as discussed above). After several years of this campaign together with the every flower counts survey, improvements in wildflower growth have been recorded, as people report their sightings taken at this time.
An article from the Plantlife charity discusses their findings in more detail here.

Even leaving the humblest of flowers to flower on lawns, like Dandelions (Taraxacum), Daisies (Bellis perennis) and Buttercups helps.

Posted in nature

Flowers Bloom in Spite of the Weather

Posted on by BITM

Much needed rain arrived last Wednesday evening, lasting through the night; followed by another short downpour later in the week. Unfortunately, these weren’t enough to replenish the parched ground which currently resembles crazy paving. It’s hard to believe we experienced a cold damp winter when cracks in the earth are so deep.

Somehow, even with of the lack of rain, wildflowers still bloom regardless. Buttercups (Ranunculus), Cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) and Stitchwort (Stellaria) have joined the early spring bloomers; replacing the faded Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna). Unlike the pinks of the ornamental Cherry trees (currently blooming), the predominant colours lower to the ground are blue, yellow and white.

Forget-me-nots (Myosotis) and Cowslips (Primula veris) around the edge of a woodland park.
Green alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) mixed with yellow archangel (Lamium galeobdolon) in a garden border.

Another plant I noticed was Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea).

Usually found on damp ground, amongst woodlands, hedgerows, wasteland and in lawns, It’s violet flowers appear between March and June. Surprisingly, it was flowering last week, even with the current dry conditions.

The common name, Ground ivy, is rather misleading as it belongs to the same family as dead-nettles (Lamiaceae) and isn’t ivy. This evergreen perennial most likely obtained the name due to its spreading nature, which occurs overground, rooting from stolons. In fact this plant has numerous common names including, Alehoof, Gill-over-the-ground, Creeping Charlie, Run-away Robin and even (during medieval times) Our Lady’s Vine. A more comprehensive list can be viewed on the RHS website, along with how to grow it if you want to introduce it into your garden.

This herb releases a scent when disturbed. As I crushed some leaves, the smell reminded me of a slightly medicinal thyme aroma, actually quite pleasant.

In times past Ground ivy was used to flavour beer, thanks to its bitter taste (before it was replaced with hops) and as a rennet substitute in cheese making.

I am always intreagued at a plants ability to thrive in unusual places or difficult situations; I love spotting plants growing in such circumstances. Last week I was amazed to see a foxglove (Digitalis) growing without soil on an old wall.

Normally I would only see plants such as Buddleja, Ferns or Yellow corydalis (Pseudofumaria lutea) thriving in this way; their shallow root systems able to anchor themselves amongst the bricks.

Last week wasn’t solely dominated by plant observations. After the previous weeks sighting of the Tawny Mining bee (Andrena fulva), see Auburn Beauty Spotted, it was nice to follow up with sightings of some Mining bee nests. Unfortunately I don’t know whether these nests had or were housing Tawny or Ashy Andrena cineraria) mining bees.

This nest was found on a lawn by my partner.
This nest was spotted on a once grassy area in my local woodland park; the “volcano” like mound partially washed away after a short downpour.

The second nest was spotted on Saturday, while going for a lovely walk with friends. On that sunny day we also witnessed three Speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) butterflies flitting about; clearly enjoying the sunshine and great company as much as I was.