2006 Ightham Mote, Kent 4th March One Day Meeting
After the dreary and gloomy weather of January and February it was good to get out on a gloriously sunny day and walk around the lanes and woods of the estate owned by the National Trust. The centrepiece is a huge house surrounded by a wide moat situated on the Greensand Way in the midst of beautiful countryside.
Margot Godfrey led ten of us as we completed a list for the National Trust at the same time, but there weren't many plants in flower. We counted a grand total of 127 species but of these only 17 sported blooms of any kind; so vegetative botany was the order of the day and I think that we acquitted ourselves very well.
Considering that an equivalent walk last year gave us so many plants in flower it seems that spring is later this year. Normally Prunus cerasifera (Cherry plum) is out along the hedgerows but all we could find were tight buds. Erophila verna (Common whitlow grass) is also evident but we found only one plant just breaking into flower. One real surprise however was to find a flowering Vicia sepium (bush vetch).
When Margot completed a recce the previous weekend she had to brave icy winds and treacherous mud but thankfully it had dried up and as the day progressed some of us took off some of our layers of clothes. The highlight was to find a large patch of Helleborus viridis (Green hellebore) in full bloom where we took photographs and even a group picture. Galanthus nivalis (Snowdrop) was found in relict patches which looked good in the sunshine. Our final stop was to look for Adoxa moschatellina (Moschatel) - which we found fully out last year - but today it was in very tight bud; another few days of this weather and so many more flowers would be welcomed. For the first walk of the season it was a great day spent in convivial company - thank you Margot for organising it.
STEPHEN CLARKSON