After many years in cities, I now live in the countryside, in a house with a garden, close to the North Sea in England. My dreams of living close to a flowery meadow slowly come true. When my husband and I moved in to our new place, we decided not to mow the grass and see what would come up. To our surprise, one day in May we noticed a Northern Marsh-orchid in bloom. This prompted us to examine the area closely and we found more orchids of this kind. Also, some Common Spotted-orchids were showing flower buds. Since then, I have been collecting seeds each year and spreading them around the place. Now we are being rewarded with a wonderful display of hundreds of both kinds and some orchid hybrids as well. Other little beauties have also been popping up. In spring we enjoy Dandelions, perhaps the most common ‘weed’. Gold finches also like them; they pick the seeds and it is great fun to observe the birds balancing on the bendy stems. Daisies and Cuckoo Flowers brighten the grass with white, while Germander Speedwell adds some patches of blue. Meadow Buttercups are in abundance too. Later Self-heal and White Clover take over the space; this is a real bonanza for butterflies, bees and many other insects. Then various kinds of yellow Hawkweed and orange Hawkbit cheer the place and attract the insects. So much more life has been attracted to our garden, not just the insects and birds, but also frogs find their home in the high grass. I have also introduced several other common wild flowers into the meadow. It is so wonderful to observe the biodiversity in our garden. I published an article on this project in November 2021, in the ICM Photography Magazine, special environmental issue created to bring active awareness to environmental concerns through photography, coinciding with the COP26 Climate Change conference in Glasgow.
