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A list of all species identified in the meadow so far. |
| Creeping Buttercup | Abundant in meadow. This is a species that I hope will decline as the level soil nutrients drop. |
| Meadow Buttercup | Less than 5 plants in 2006, none in 2007 and one in 2008. |
| Lesser Celandine | A single plant first recorded in April 2008. |
| Icelandic Poppy | About 30 first year plants that had self-seeded in the back garden were introduced in the autumn of 2006. This orange-flowered poppy is not native to the UK but I hoped the plants would persist and add colour to the meadow. About 5 plants could be found in late summer 2007 but the persistent flowering of 2 throughout the summer was a delight. More were be planted in the winter but only three plants survived to flower in 2008. About 5 plants from pots were introduced in late October 2008. |
| Hairy Bittercress | Less than 5 plants flowered in March 2007. There was a huge increase of this tiny annual in 2008 with 500-800 in mid-April. |
| Cuckooflower | Under 10 plants in 2004-8. |
| Common Dog Violet | Two plants introduced in summer 2005 but not seen since. |
| Sweet Violet | One planted under birch tree spring 2006 but not seen since. |
| Common Mouse-ear | Abundant in meadow. |
| Corncockle | Seeds were introduced after the summer cut in 2005. Many plants germinated during the summer, survived the autumn mowing and flowered in June 2006. This is not a typical meadow species as it is adapted to growing in regularly disturbed soil such as in cornfields. However, its introduction to this meadow was a great success. About 10 flowered in 2007 and 2008. |
| Red Campion | Five or six 1st year plants introduced in October 2006. These flowered in 2007 but have not been recorded since. |
| Cut-leaved Crane’s-bill | Common in meadow. |
| Meadow Crane’s-bill | Two plants introduced autumn 2005. One flowered in 2006 and 2007, the other survived but did not flower until 2008. |
| Field Bindweed | One plant under the birch trees. |
| Red Clover | Less than 5 plants in 2006 and 2007. There was an increase to about 15 plants on the pavement side in 2008. This is reputidly an important nectar plant for bumblebees although I have not seem them used in the meadow. |
| White Clover | Grows on the more regularly mown margin than in the meadow. |
| Common Vetch | Less than 5 plants. |
| Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil | Three plants introduced spring and summer 2005. I mowed round these during the summer as they were in flower. They were the best flower for bumblebees in the meadow that year. The same 3 plants continued to flourish in following years. |
| Kidney Vetch | One plant flowered in July 2006 but not in 2007. Several plants were introduced in the autumn of 2007 and flowered in 2008. |
| Creeping Cinquefoil | Common plant in meadow. |
| Wild Carrot | One plant grew up next to a cowslip introduced in autumn 2004. I mowed round this in 2005 as it was in flower and broadcast its seeds over the meadow. At least 10 plants flowered in 2007 and 2008. |
| Dock spp | I pulled up the one dock that grew up in spring 2006. |
| Common Sorrel | Less than 5 plants in 2006 but increased in 2007 and 2008. |
| Cowslip | One plant introduced autumn 2004 with a little turf. Flowered in 2005 and mowed round. Seeds from this plant were sown into pots in the autumn and germinated Spring 2006. Thirty plugs were purchased from Wriggly Wrigglers in the spring. These were split into individual plants and grown up in pots resulting in over 70 plants. Some of these were planted directly into the meadow in late spring. The rest were planted out in the autumn. Over 50 plants flowered in 2006 to 2008. |
| Scarlet Pimpernel | One plant flowered in June 2006. |
| Germander Speedwell | Less than 10 plants flowered in June 2006. |
| Thyme-leaved Speedwell | Common in meadow. |
| Yellow Rattle | Seeds were sown onto meadow after the summer cut in summer 2005. Several grew and flowered in 2006. There was a large increase in flowers in 2007 and 2008 with too many to count. This is the most successful introduction which also involved the least effort. This is the best early summer plant for bees in the meadow. |
| Selfheal | A small clump flowered on the meadow edge and in the short margin west of the birch trees in 2007. |
| Ribwort Plantain | Less than 5 plants in 2006 but has increased in 2007 and 2008. |
| Greater Plantain | |
| Field Scabious | One plant given to me in 2004 as a pot plant by Gill Obrien. It was introduced in 2005 but not recorded again until August 2007 when a month's delay in mowing allowed it to flower. I mowed round it to allow the flowers to set seed. The same plant flowered again in 2008. |
| Devil's-bit Scabious | One pot plant introduced in 2005 in the same circumstances as above was still alive in 2006 and I mowed round it in the summer allowing it to flower during the autumn. However, it did not look very healthy and has not been recorded since. |
| Common Ragwort | Less than 5 plants in 2006, none in 2007, two in 2008. A very good insect plant! |
| Groundsel | Less than 5 plants in the early years but increased to 29 in April 2008. |
| Oxeye Daisy | Planted in spring 2005 and at least one plant flowered. Its seeds were spread late summer. Many plants flowered in 2006 and numbers increased in 2007 and 2008. This is a species well adapted to self-colonise in the meadow. |
| Daisy | Abundant in meadow. Over 200 flowers were counted in April 2008. |
| Prickly Sow-thistle | About 10 plants in 2005 and 2006. In 2006 plants were pulled up just as they were about to flower. During the winter of 2006/7 large numbers germinated and I removed over 100 tiny plants in February. Very few flowered in the summer and under 5 were present in 2008. I don't think the plant does very well in the meadow and I stopped any attempt to control it after 2007. |
| Yarrow | An abundant component of meadow in 2005-6. There was a dramatic decline in 2007 and 2008 with just a single plant flowering. |
| Spear Thistle | A single plant in the richer soil on the west end on the meadow. It did not have a chance to flower as it was cut down during the August mowing. |
| Black Knapweed | Two plants were introduced from pots in spring 2005. They grew strongly in the following years but needed to be mown around in July as they flower in August. Seeds collected in 2006 germinated in pots straight away and by the autumn were ready for planting out. Many survived in 2007 although none flowered. Several that were planted in a flower border in the back garden flowered prolifically in August and were outstanding for attracting bees. In 2008 plants flowered all over the meadow. This highly successful introduction was best late summer plant for bees. |
| Dandelion | Became very abundant in spring 2006 with over 100 plants flowering. An excellent early source of nectar for insects and I have seen goldfinches feeding in the meadow on their seeds. We harvest the leaves to feed our rabbits and guinea pigs. |
| Common Cat’s-ear | 10-20 flowered in June 2006 and 20-50 in 2007 and 2008. A very successful non-introduced plant in the meadow and a good one for insects. |
| Nipplewort | Seven plants flowered in August 2007. |
| Smooth Hawk’s-beard | A single plant flowered in June 2006 and 2007. |
| Annual Meadow-grass | Common. |
| Crested Dog’s-tail | Two plants flowered in June 2006. |
| Soft Brome | Thirty plants flowered in June 2006. |
| Meadow Barley | Between 200-400 plants. The best non-introduced species to grow in the meadow so far. Meadow barley is a species that normally grows in old meadows. |
| Bread Wheat | Three plants in 2006 but none since. |
| Yorkshire Fog | Common |
| Perennial Rye-grass | Not welcome in the meadow. A small number grow on the richer soils towards the western margin. |
| Timothy | Occasional plants in the sward. |
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