Settle Wildflowers - Day 50a - White 15 - Hay Meadow 6

Hay Meadow flowers: Today - White Hay Meadow Flowers.

It is also Mid Summers Day - and Day 50 of the  Settle Wildflowers. I have written a separate post: Reflections on Lockdown Wallks at Day 50 at Midsummer 

All the flowers below could potentially grow in a Hay Meadow but several of the pictures were taken in other habitats.

Most Settle Meadows are just green and they are Ryegrass Silage Meadows, not Hay Meadows. The farmer does not have to wait for a lot of dry days to cut the grass to make Hay. The farmer calls in the contractors and they  cut the grass in a few days and put it in silage bags.

Some meadows are white with a lot of Cow Parsley - that indicates a fair amount of nutrients too. But I covered Cow Parsley a month back.

Road verges often have more hay meadow/woodland edge flowers than do most hay meadows.

But it is still worth looking out for good hay meadows, and field edges.

1. Ox-eye Daisy 

Some few meadows can feature Ox-eye Daisy...

Ox-eye Daisy on The Mains, Settle


2. Eyebright  Euphrasia agg

Eye-bright, like Yellow Rattle is a parasite on grasses; 29 May, Lord's Pasture (which is managed by keeping stock out in early summer;



3. Meadowsweet  Filipendula ulmaria

An Early Meadowsweet at the Hoffman Kiln 18 June



4. Hogweed: Heracleum sphondylium

Hogweed that got away at Lower Winskill Farm 12 June


5. Mouse-ear  Cerastium fontanum

Mouse-ear - Cerastium fontanum 20 June - Colt Park.  This could also be found in the streets of Settle and in your garden


The pictures below are "Guest Pictures" from the work I started doing last week and am now able to do for four weeks at Ingleborough, ten miles from home.

I am carrying out some plant monitoring on the Long term monitoring plots at the Colt Park Hay Meadows on Ingleborough. It is six whole years since thy were last surveyed. I am lucky that we are now  allowed to travel, so is possible for me to do this work

Next post is  Day 50b - Reflections on Lockdown Walks

Click here for more flowers coming out around Settle