Mary Green admires the purple hues of July.
I
was so sad to see at the end of May that the lovely flowers on our platform-side bank at Alvechurch
Station had been mown down in full flower. This used to happen years ago but after the new station we had an agreement with Network Rail and London Midland that this bank should be left to flower and only cut in the winter. It had just come back to strength, especially the moon daisies but also the wild strawberry, trefoil, wild carrot and other plants. It’s just another example of how people in organisa- tions don’t seem to understand how to maintain a habitat, which needs to be done consistently over the years. Something similar happened in
Old Birmingham Road in Alvechurch. On the verge here is an unusual type of buttercup called goldilocks, which is becoming rare. I wrote about it last year, with a poem. This year they mowed the whole verge down in early May when they were in full flower.
Elsewhere the mowing seems to
have been quite sympathetic, with just a foot or so mown in the flower- ing season and the rest left to flower. So, there has been beautiful cow parsley in Withy- bed Lane and some lovely cowslips on Birmingham Road opposite the school this year. And the mow- ing on Hop- wood motorway roundabout has allowed the moon daisies to flower. A somewhat op-
posite thing happened at Bittell. Here the Canal and River Trust mowed down some growing rare bee orchids last summer. They promised never to do it again, and
42 The Village July 2017
Woolly thistle
suMMer
they haven’t. But they should have cut the grass once in the winter, to maintain the meadow-like habitat. They didn’t, so this year the orchids are struggling with the bigger, stronger plants. However, some of them have succeeded in flowering, though you have to look hard to find them. It’s not rocket science, but it seems difficult for people to grasp that you shouldn’t cut down flowers in the growing season – any more than you would chop
Hawkbit
down little birds or animals. But many
flowers of open ground benefit from a winter cut, after
flowering and setting seed, which mimics the effect of haymaking or grazing.
The little birds are doing well this
year. As well as ducklings and a family of swans, we have some successful moorhen broods locally, and more goslings than last year. The moorhens especially seem to have got the hang of nesting in more private places this year. It may be that the canalside veg- etation has now grown back to just the right kind of plants and thickness of cover. In July, everything comes into
full colour. The green of the trees becomes heavy and strong, so there won’t be many things flowering un- derneath them. The best flowers are out in the open, in fields, on verges or along canals and rivers. It’s here that you will also see the insects, one of the pleasures of July. But the birds will have gone quiet, and some of them will have lost their bright colours. Purple is one of July’s colours. It’s such a magnificent colour that it has become symbolic of royalty and riches, and also of love and passion. By the canal the flowers are now on
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
