Wild flowers suffering from drought?

[DavidJO]

Sunshine yesterday so my wife and I went off to one of the Hampshire Wildlife chalk downland reserves. I felt that this year many of the plants were later than usual, and some - particularlry the orchids - were quite small. Could this be down to lack of rain? Is this a shared experience?
Found this geranium growing nearby - way out in the wilds but looks like a garden escape. Not bloody Cranesbill as that has bluish anthers, I believe. Ideas welcome!

Couldn't resist including the gentian picture - just showing off with this one really!

[Dorts]

David, the Geranium looks like G. endressii.
Your 'Gentian' is Clustered Bellflower, a campanula. Probably stunted by the dry weather.
Dorts.

[tom00_uk]

the wild (garden escaped) poppy's here that are drought effected are only 3/4 inches tall and a single small flower, those that have had moisture are 3ft+ and multiple large flower heads

[DavidJO]

As usual, thanks for the ID correction, Dorts!

[Peter W]

There is a strip of Rough Poppies in a dry chalky field near me that I keep an eye on from year to year. Last week when I went, a high percentage of them were stunted to just a couple of inches high, the leaves on most were yellowish and many were clearly not going to flower. By the look of things, the production of seeds will be well below 10% that of a normal year.

[sunnydale]

Originally Posted by DavidJO

I felt that this year many of the plants were later than usual, and some - particularlry the orchids - were quite small. Could this be down to lack of rain? Is this a shared experience?

Hi David

I too have noticed how much smaller many of the Orchids are this year, although I was assured by members here that they are healthy. My main concern was for the local Bee Orchids - but some of the Common Spotted at the same location were very small indeed!

I photographed other Common Spotted (along with Southern Marsh) at a location that was still quite damp/boggy, even after such little rain. These, by comparison, were very tall and the colours really vibrant.

We've had a fair bit of decent rain over the last few days, so hopefully they'll be lapping it up now!

Tracey