The Far East corner of Kent gave us flowering plants in churchyard, road verges and harrowed fields. ⭐️ was Sharp-leaved Fluellen. 62 species for #NewYearPlantHunt #2

Cold wind but sunny - who would have expected Common Poppy to be flowering now, in the Far East Kent #NewYearPlantHunt ?

#NewYearPlantHunt got off to a good start in a cold wind, in Woden’s East Kent, with 68 species flowering. Sandy arable delivers! Rescue Brome, Musk Stork’s-bill are both increasing rapidly here, and Alexanders is everywhere(but precious few flowering yet). Garden Cress was new to us.

A Happy New Year to all! 🥂🌼 My summary of the year is on the blog kingsdownkent.blogspot.com ending with the find of the month, Argentine Fleabane (Erigeron bonariensis), found on a farm track in Marshborough, a second for Kent (the first being in 1978 in Greenhythe).

Finally, after checking many Holly bushes, the first flowers! #wildflowerhour

The first flowers of Green Hellebore are starting to open, part of a thriving population in a wood in deepest east Kent #wildflowerhour

Blue Fleabane is still to be found. The Latin name Erigeron means “old man’s ear-hair” apparently - very accurate! #wildflowerhour

The number of flowering species is falling now (and will fall further before the NYPH no doubt) but some sturdy types are hanging on - pleased to find this Small-flowered Crane’s-bill #wildflowerhour

Arable weeds in a harrowed-not-sprayed field near Dover. Plants like Dwarf Spurge, Field Madder and Dense-flowered Fumitory are good to see, especially in December. #wildflowerhour #wnter10

Plentiful Cut-Leaved Dead-Nettle in a newly-planted orchard brightened up a dull floral week #wildflowerhour

Marvellous assessment of the first session of the test. www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...

Strolling round Sandwich we happened upon St Clement’s church, where the churchyard is sensitively managed for wildlife. @kentwildlife.bsky.social www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/rewildi...

Our #NovemberFlowerChallenge ended on 248 species, mostly late-flowerers, but occasionally (like Primrose and Winter Heliotrope) early. An unusual month in many ways. #wildflowerhour

Naturally, @zdroberts.bsky.social took time out of his holiday to write a story about this for @ecvanalog.bsky.social

Stinking Chamomile brings up 245 flowering species in November. And fire and brimstone in the sunshine!

The November flower list ticked up to 240 with a Goat’s-beard at The Bay, where a farmer kindly led frisky cattle away from the footpath. The favourite Lunch Bench was occupied.

A few more species added to the #NovemberFlowerChallenge list, including the charming Hare’s-Foot Clover. Also Common Cudweed, Narrow-Leaved Meadow-Grass and a naturalised Himalayan Honeysuckle, at a deserted Betteshanger Park. 237.

Basil Thyme has been the most surprising flowering plant found in our #Novemberflowerchallenge. The mild month has (so far) given up 229 species while the Surrey competitor has seen more. #wildflowerhour KingsdownKent.blogspot.com

Day 15 of the #NovemberFlowerChallenge, and a good one despite the mist. Some good chalk species added from Lydden, including a late Autumn Gentian, Basil Thyme, Dyers Greenweed and a solitary Botanists’ Thistle. And Monkey-Flower by the Dour. Now on 228 species.

Surprisingly pleasant on the cliffs of St Margaret’s Bay, with only a bit of drizzle. Added Goldenrod and Orange Mullein, bringing the #Novemberflowerchallenge total up to 218 species. Entertainment was provided by a displaying Raven.

Day 12’s visit to the seaside didn’t bring many new flowering species (now 211) but it was good to be out. Also good to bump into the great Nic Mitchell @getwild1.bluesky.social Sea Mayweed at Pegwell and Sticky Groundsel at Deal.

Day eleven and we have hit 200 species of flowering plant in November, with additions including Common Broomrape (!), Blue Fleabane and Common Bird’s-Foot Trefoil. Quite overwhelmed by the numbers of species flowering this warm month.

We decided to count the number of species flowering locally in the month of November, and it's become a #Novemberflowerchallenge. Helped by the mild weather and varied habitats we have so far recorded 193 species in 9 days, including Meadowsweet. #wildflowerhour kingsdownkent.blogspot.com

Day 9 of the #Novemberflowerchallenge. A few more species added from arable fields including Field Pansy, Cleavers (at last!) and Dogwood. Total species = 193.

Day eight of the #Novemberflowerchallenge brings us up to 187 species, with a few added from the town of Deal. White Ramping-fumitory, and Water Bent at the end of the pier.

Day seven of the #Novemberflowerchallenge saw us on the chalk arable fields of the East Kent prairies. 10 more species, including Common Poppy and Thyme-leaved Sandwort, bring the total up to 180.

This mild weather is certainly encouraging plant species to flower again, especially after some verge cutting. White Melilot and Meadowsweet have both bloomed again. The #Novemberflowerchallenge total is now 170 species.

Tonight, the Woodcock Moon rises. 🌕 Folklore whispers of Woodcocks awaiting this moonlit night to cross the seas & arrive in huge numbers on our shores. It was believed tiny Goldcrests journeyed with them, riding on their backs! It will be our second Supermoon of the year.

📣New #Exhibition at #Dover Museum: Crabble Athletic Ground. On the 6th January 1896, four businessmen in Dover formed a syndicate named Dover Athletic Ground Ltd with a plan to create a cricket ground and cycling track.

Last week, I went to go visit @karlantmercer.bsky.social 's "At the End of History," at @dovermuseum.bsky.social and had a fantastic day out. The VR portion of the exhibit is like nothing I've ever experienced before. Highly urge everyone to see this exhibit before it closes. #DisHist

A few chalk species picked up today in the damp gloom, including Burnet Saxifrage, bringing the #Novemerflowerchallenge total to 108.

A pale, late Nettle-leaved Bellflower, seen earlier in the week so not a November bloom #wildflowerhour

Early and Common Dog-violets tucked away in an East Kent wood. No respecters of season #wildflowerhour

Good to revisit Foreness today, albeit at low tide. M&F eider bobbing just offshore.

Chuffed to find these dog stinkhorns (Mutinus caninus) near Whitfield.

Narrow-leaved ragwort thriving on Walmer beach, in this case sheltered by another newcomer, holm oak. Naturalised #wildflowerhour

Holm oaks are having a bumper acorn year. There seems to be a relationship between them and fungi species on the shingle beach.

Wildflower seed mix of mainly native British flowers & grasses inspired by country churchyards. Sowing best done in Autumn as yellow rattle, a semi-parasitic meadow annual which attaches itself to grasses through the root system needs to overwinter to germinate. #CFGA #wildflowerseeds #yellowrattle

Knotgrass comes in all shapes and sizes - long & straggly, and short & stumpy #wildflowerhour

Today’s habitat management work in Walmer revealed some hidden gems, blooming sweet violets. #wildflowerhour

Meadowsweet having a new floral flush, after the ditch mower has passed. #wildflowerhour

Entertaining game at Deal Town in the gale-force wind. Deal won 2-0 v Sevenoaks - gulls, pigeons and starlings in attendance @stevewg.bsky.social @lowcarbonkev.bsky.social

It’s #UKFungusDay apparently. So a good opportunity to post this.

Some good news. London is meeting legal limits for toxic NO2 pollution for the first time – almost 200 years earlier than predicted – following the Mayor’s "world leading air pollution policies," City Hall announces. The Ultra Low Emissions Zone - and similar policies - really do work.

A large ragweed plant Ambrosia artemisiifolia, suspiciously near a bird-feeder. #wildflowerhour

Hereabouts there’s a (small) chance of finding Spiny Restharrow so it becomes a habit to touch any Restharrow plant you see. Usually you just get an unpleasant smell, but very occasionally you also get a painful spike! #wildflowerhour

4/ Using evidence gathered from old postcards, maps and the accounts of shepherds and botanists, I want to rebuild a picture of the chalk downland that existed until the 1940s - and in doing so, help efforts to restore it. Please get involved here: ghostsofchalkcountry.org/2025/09/14/h...

2/ THE GHOSTS OF CHALK COUNTRY will be a book about the ecology of our chalk downs, but it will also be about ancient fertility rites, shepherds, soldiers, organic fascists, pagan activists & English identity. It's also a project to resurrect the ghosts: ghostsofchalkcountry.org/2025/09/14/i...

Good to refind skullcap by the Delf Stream, Sandwich. #wildflowerhour

Find of the day in an East Kent ditch…. a water stick insect Ranatra linearis.