June 21st – I think the poppies growing so beautifully on the traffic island in Clayhanger must have been planted, possibly as part of the Great War commemorations this year. It’s fair to say that whether by accident or design, they’re really beautiful and a lovely display.
If you’re passing, do take a look, it’s magical.
May 30th – Under the rumble and roar of Spaghetti Junction, beside a quiet, limpid canal, on an aqueduct above the River Tame, a little oasis of wildflowers in a built, otherwise hostile urban environment of steel, concrete and brick.
Lupins, poppies, ox-eye daisies, red campion.
That’s my Birmingham, right there.
September 4th – Interestingly, the honeysuckle thicket on the approach to the Black Cock Bridge in Walsall Wood is in a second phase of flowering. Lots of plants seem to be; the trefoil is showing strongly again, dead nettles seem back in bloom, and I’ve even seen a few fresh poppies in the hedgerows.
This doesn’t seem normal to me. It must be the sign of a good season. Long may it continue.
June 26th – It had caught my eye the morning before – a late flowering crop of oilseed rape in a field also partially spread with crimson poppies, just in the lee of Pipe Hill as one descends down into Lichfield. Today I stopped and took pictures.
I’m not altogether sure what causes this – but it is beautiful, and quite rare. It seems many of the neighbouring fields are displaying a similar effect. Beautiful in the sunlight.
June 21st – It was another miserable day, but I had managed to avoid the worst of the rain. I thought I’d continue with my wildflower feature, and after yesterday’s thistles, it made me think which other flower buds were interesting. In Thorneyhurst Lane, near Lynn, I spotted this poppy bud. Poppies seem such fragile flowers, yet the buds seem almost prehistoric in nature. The hedgerow and verges here are peppered with these downy buds, and with other poppies in various stages of the flowering cycle. A beautiful flower.
June 15th – It’s the time of year that the poppies bloom, often as pictured here, in fields of oilseed rape. The beautiful red makes for a dramatic contrast with the background yellow-green substrate. This field, at Lower Stonnall, is rather gorgeous.
The image of the hedge-line also demonstrates the importance of hedgerows in combating soil erosion. The old guys who planted those knew exactly what they were doing.
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