Anyway... heading south, our first stop was at Martin Down, on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border; it's a famed site for orchids later in the year, but I had a specific target in mind today. En route, a couple of bushes of
Spanish Gorse (
Genista hispanica) caused my girlfriend to perform an emergency stop on the A36 just before the Martin turn-off (she was doing the driving on this trip; my recent medical issues mean I'm still declared unfit to get behind the wheel
). Along the minor road a couple of bushes of
Dwarf Cherry (
Prunus cerasus) were in full bloom in a hedge, a good omen, and it didn't take long to find the plant I was after. It was literally "a" plant - just the one
Pasqueflower (
Pulsatilla vulgaris), in a helpfully conpicuously orange-fenced section of the reserve, and a fine sight even though it was probably a week or so past its' best.
(
Spanish Gorse, Genista hispanica)
(
Dwarf Cherry, Prunus cerasus)
(
Pasqueflower, Pulsatilla vulgaris)
(
Green-winged Orchid, Anacamptis morio)
Our base for the weekend was at Avon Tyrrell, near the village of Burley in the heart of the New Forest; I'd chosen the place especially because I'd read that the grounds were excellent for naturalised plants, and that certainly proved true. Four species of
Rhododendron had found the sandy soil to their liking and were well established; the common
Rhododendron ponticum,
Yellow Azalea (
R. luteum), the magnificent bright red
Tree Rhododendron (
Rhododendron arboreum and a white-flowered one that I'll be posting later along with several others I still require ID help on
(
Tree Rhododendron, Rhododendron arboreum)
An ornamental lake in the grounds was surrounded by
Bog Myrtle (
Myrica gale), in the lake itself were
Parrot's-feather (
Myriophyllum aquaticum) and (on the surface) purple-leaved
Hybrid Waterlilies (
Nymphaea x marliacea); I'd presume the latter had been planted at some point, but they were spreading well and would make a fine sight when they flower probably in a couple of months time.
Checkerberry (
Gaultheria mucronata) had seeded freely around the place, and I also came across a couple of bushes of the attractive
Mountain Fetter-bush,
Pieris floribunda - you'd struggle to find many of those in or around Bristol
Unfortunately the photo upload thingy seems to be playing up again on the site, so a lot of the ones I've tried to upload just haven't worked
I can't for the life of me figure out why, when they're all sized exactly the same, some upload properly and others don't
