June Nature Notes

by David Tidmarsh - 16:47 on 09 June 2013

I hope we are all singing “The sun has got his hat on” as you never know what the next day will bring!
Everything is looking good at the moment with all the lush growth abounding everywhere.
Dandelions seem to have passed their yellow splendour and are now in seed scattering mode. These, when in flower can be as colourful as Daffodils and last a whole lot longer, but only in the wild, we should not brag about a lawn or garden full of dandelions.
Buttercups are equally as pretty in the right location and give a lovely splash of colour.
These are contrasted with the purple of the clovers and the reds of the Campion in the woods and are merrily growing alongside the whites of the Cow Parsley that seems to flourish in either sun or shade.
We used to build “camps” with the cow parsley using the stalks which we used for the walls in my younger days. Alas many moons ago. 
Horse chestnut trees are now showing off their conical flowers in readiness of being pollinated to produce their seed (conkers to you and me) lets hope we have a few to collect in the Autumn as last year they we as rare as hens teeth.
I have been observing the Elms that are growing down “Jimmies Lane” which is part of the Lambton Estate and has a popular footpath running the length of it. Most of these Elms are the Smooth-leaved variety and seem to be resisting the Dutch Elm disease that has wiped out many of their neighbours. Only one very mature tree stands out as being different, which I believe must be the Wych or Scotch Elm. Different pattern of the leaves growing along the branches are the main guide to distinguishing this from the others. I have tried collecting seed from this wych elm but have yet to have any success at germination.
The Hawthorns are now in full flower with a heady scent from its “may flowers” these should produce some wonderful berries later in the season; always a good source of winter food for many of our native birds.
Rowan or Mountain Ash are also doing extremely well this season, flowers on all the shrubs and trees seem to have managed to “catch-up to speed” even with the poor spring that they have had to endure, the Rowan berries, when they mature, are soon gobbled up by the Starlings, who seem to swoop down onto the nearby trees and soon strip them clean of their fruit. During the natural process that the birds have whilst digesting the berries, we and the Rowan population enjoy continued germination of these trees around our area.
So I am away out now to enjoy as much of this sunshine as I can and take in some of the lovely scents that abound.
Ken.

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