Miscellaneous

Several fields are growing this crop of beautiful blue and purple flowers.

Hoverflies feeding on the pollen of blackberry flowers. Blackberries are already beginning to form, a sign that Autumn is not far away.

Pink flower with cow parsley.

The curious peacock.

The last of the pink peonies.

A small meadow with cow parsley.

Barley.

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Steppe Planting

The Big Sky Meadow at RHS Hyde Hall is a 46 acre project to convert land to a perennial meadow. The plants are those common to the Eurasian steppes, North American prairies and African grasslands.

Blue Eryngium planum and yellow Galium verum. When dried, the yellow flowers smell of freshly mown hay. These were once used to stuff straw mattresses. A yellow dye was also made from these flowers.

Berkehya purpurea from South Africa is a drought tolerant plant, suited to areas with poor soils.

Red clover – in herbal medicine, was used to treat skin disorders.