Have you been using the Plantlife wild flower spotting sheets or app this Summer? It’s a great way to get to know some of our common wild flowers. Here are some you may well have seen in Seaford that are particularly good for wildlife!
Common Knapweed (and the closely related Greater Knapweed) look a little like a thistle, but without any thorns. They are fantastic flowers for wildlife and our POMS pollinator counts in the Summer proved that the knapweed was alive with pollinators including bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other insects.
Red and white Clover is another popular flower with bumble bees as we found at the Salts on the day of the Buglife workshop. In the latter photo you can also see Bird’s Foot Trefoil, another fantastic plant for wildlife, and the larval plant for several butterflies.
Bird’s foot trefoil is a favourite food of the caterpillar of the Common Blue butterfly that has several broods during the Summer. Did you know that the caterpillars secrete nutrient-containing substances which is attractive to ants? In return the ants protect the caterpillar from predators!
It’s often given the nickname “Eggs and Bacon” due to the yellow and orange colouring on the petals. The “bird’s foot” name comes from the seed head which really does look like a bird’s foot!
“Eggs and Bacon” in the Verge of Arundel Road (look out for the bird’s feet!..)
There are still a few wild flowers about now, as the weather has been mild, but we would love to hear what flowers you have seen over the Summer!
Fancy a change? Plantlife have seasonal spotting sheets including fungi, and spooky plants for Halloween! You can download them here