No lawn, but I have let a previously woodchipped path on my allotment grow wild for #nomowmay. I now have a glorious mini-meadow of Yorkshire Fog grass. Velvety soft, with a purply hue in the right light, and, close up lovely yellow stamen protruding. 💚 #NoMowSummer #LawnFlowers #wildflowerhour

A very pleasant walk in Affpuddle Forest, Dorset, this week, with plenty of flowers along the more open paths to enjoy. I particularly liked this impressively massive grass (a fescue?), the gorgeous flowers of Skullcap, and some stunning Common Spotted Orchids. #wildflowerhour

Wow!! 😍 What fabulous caterpillars - such striking colours! These two huge Mullein Moth caterpillars were munching on what's left of a Figwort plant in Weymouth. Perfect for #WildWebsWednesday! 🐛 #teammoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

Maybe not the rarest, but who can deny the exquisite beauty of a Bee Orchid? What a truly wonderful flower. Seen a few this week at different locations in Weymouth, and I am compelled to stop and admire every little one. I just love them. 🩷 #wildflowerhour #orchidchallenge

I think Heath-spotted Orchids are such pretty flowers with a real delicateness about them. Saw some lovely examples yesterday on the Purbeck Heaths, prior to enjoying the Nightjars doing their thing. What a great combo! 😃 #wildflowerhour #orchidchallenge

It's starting...the annual spectacle of Pyramidal Orchids along the main road into Weymouth, on my doorstep! There are thousands of plants here, most still in bud but it's still impressive. When it peaks it will be epic! 💜 Oh and there are Bee Orchids here too. 😍 #orchidchallenge #wildflowerhour

For me the absolute joy of moth trapping is marvelling at the incredible variety and detail of different moths. I've always been an admirer of the stunning Cream-spot Tiger, but I've only just noticed they have this fabulous fluffy highlight of red accenting their eyes. 😍 #mothfacefriday #teammoth

Fab weather for my Butterfly Transect y'day at Lorton Meadows. Great seeing my fave butterfly Small Copper, plus firsts for yr - Meadow Brown & Large Skipper. Bee #Orchid an added bonus plus day-flying moths, caterpillars & other insects 💚 @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social @dorsetwildlife.bsky.social

Lovely start to the day! A neighbour's hedge is full of butterflies this morning. At least 15 Painted Lady and 6 Red Admiral just on the facing side of this one blue-flowering shrub. It's a butterfly-tastic day here in Weymouth! 🦋🦋🦋 @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

For #NoMowMay I let a woodchipped area of my allotment go wild. The main coloniser is Black Meddick which Common Blue butterflies are egg laying on! I'll leave it wild now to complete their lifecycle. Also a fabulous Brimstone on my Erysimum today. 🦋 @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social #wildflowerhour

Loving this Oxeye Daisy, standing tall, guarding the gateway to Weymouth and Portland. Below it, a carpet of yellow Birds-foot Trefoil supporting many butterflies, and on the verges of the road, just behind, will soon be the annual spectacle of Pyramidal Orchids. 💜 #wildflowershow #wildflowerhour

What a truly beautiful flower Greater Butterfly Orchid is - there is something so elegant about them, and I love the super-long spurs, and wonderful smell. 🤍 But close up, is it just me, or are the flowers a bit sinister?! I get Weeping Angel vibes from them!! 😅 #wildflowershow #wildflowerhour

My first entry for #Wildflowershow is this stunning swathe of Thrift, looking dazzling on Chesil Beach this week. Despite the appalling weather that day (a biting wind and heavy downpours of rain) these gorgeous flowers provided some much needed floral sunshine to a bleak day. 🌸 #wildflowerhour

A real treat this morning in my Weymouth moth trap - a stunning Cream-spot Tiger. What a moth! In total 33 moths / 21 sp, incl also Small Mottled Willow, Diamond-back, Portland Ribbon Wave, Pale Tussock, Light Brocade & Buff Ermine. #teammoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

It appears the Swiss Chard plant I left to flower in my allotment is a powerful aphrodisiac! 🥰 A veritable orgy taking place this evening with at least 20 bugs - Dock Bugs, Common Green Shieldbugs & Hairy Shieldbugs at the party. The lower of the Green Shieldbug pair I assume is a nymph? #insects

The Lackey Moth caterpillars are on the move! A fair few crossing the path on my walk today in Weymouth. One of my favourite caterpillars - just sooooo jazzy!! 🐛 @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social @dorsetmoths.bsky.social #teammoth

Admittedly the wrong sort of bee, but delighted to see my first flowering Bee #Orchid of the year on #WorldBeeDay, looking fabulous in the evening sun. #Wildflowerhour

Very apt for #WorldBeeDay I found this rather lovely Buff-tailed Bumblebee stranded on the pavement. Very happy to be able to give her a helping hand to safety, hopefully she'll be bumbling again in no time. 🐝

My #TinyPlants were more tiny flowers on not-quite-tiny plants! How could I not share "Sticky Willy" aka Cleavers after it got stuck to my leg today?! 😂 Easy to overlook the tiny white stars. Also a bedstraw, Field Madder - found as a #pavementplant with lovely tiny purple stars. #wildflowerhour

My flower of the week has to be the heavenly White Helloborines I was lucky enough to encounter here in Dorset. The many flower spikes glowing creamy-white as they were caught by the evening sun in the dappled light of the Beech canopy. Simply beautiful. 🤍 #wildflowerhour #orchid

Myself and the bees are loving the foxgloves which have self-seeded in my allotment. Getting up-close and personal, the inside of the flower is both gorgeous and weirdly hairy at the mouth, which I'd not noticed before. What's that about? And aren't the stem undersides gorgeous? 💜 #wildflowerhour

Small Copper is my absolute favourite butterfly - always a joy to see these gorgeous, feisty little butterflies. 😍 What's yours?? 🦋 britainsfavouritebutterfly.co.uk/butterfly/sm... #TeamSmallCopper

An absolutely gigantic Dryads Saddle (aka Pheasants Back) #fungi seen in Charmouth Forest, Dorset this week - what a beauty! Happy #FungiFriday! 🍄

Loving the #carrotsandpeas challenge this week. 😃 It gave me the incentive to look at Gorse in more detail - a flower I see often, but rarely take time to properly enjoy. How exciting to break into one of the hairy pods today and discover the tiny, super-cute "peas" inside! 🫛💚 #wildflowerhour

As a child, I was given a Wildflower book published by Octopus. I loved that book. My eye was caught by the Vetch page and I remember my delight at finding my first one and ticking the page. Since then the Vetches have always had a place in my heart. Just beautiful. 💜 #wildflowerhour #carrotsandpeas

Driving down a country lane in West Dorset this afternoon (the type with moss down the middle) I noticed activity in the field to my right, so pulled up to take a look. Two tractors were ploughing, attended by around 30 fabulous Red Kites and a vast number of gulls and corvids. Fantastic to watch!

Lorton Meadows, Weymouth is an oasis of tranquility. Painted Lady, Holly Blue, Orange Tip, Red Admiral & Speckled Wood recorded on my Butterfly Transect yesterday. 🦋 Also seen Silver Y and Burnet Companion moths and Beautiful Demoiselle. @dorsetwildlife.bsky.social @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

A splendid Chicken Of The Woods #fungi, almost glowing yellow, in Yarner Wood, Dartmoor this week, along with some pristine Turkeytail. Even the signpost into the woods was covered in lichen. A really lovely place to visit. Happy #FungiFriday! 🍄 #fingerpostfriday

A very obliging male Orange Tip butterfly basking in the sun, in Abbotsbury. 🧡 What lovely butterflies they are. I really enjoyed this encounter, seeing the small details, like the chequered wing edges. My other sightings this year have all been speedy fly-bys! @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

Maybe my favourite flower of the week - Pale Flax adding a sprinkling of delicate beauty to the roadside verges. I stopped to take a closer look and was blown away by the flowers - aren't they just gorgeous? 💜 #wildflowerhour

This week's #ButtercupChallenge has provided me with the perfect opportunity to share a photo I took of this wonderful scene - two donkeys immersed in a sea of buttercups! 😍 Also pictured, Bulbous Buttercup (L) with reflexed sepals, and Meadow Buttercup (R) seen on my local walk. #wildflowerhour

Plenty of lovely Yellow Rattle popping up in this meadow, alongside Green-winged Orchids, and looking rather splendid backlit by the setting sun. #wildflowerhour

A fabulously thick-trunked Olive tree in one of the many lovely groves seen on the beautiful island of Rhodes. 🌞 #ThickTrunkThursday 🪾

Who doesn't like a good rummage - #HedgerowChallenge accepted! Thank you #Wildflowerhour. 😆 Still lots of glorious Blackthorn blossom to be found here. Also with white flowers, equally lovely but far less flamboyant - Holly flowers are starting to appear, looking fabulous against the dark foliage.

The wild corner of my allotment had been carpeted in Red Dead-nettle, and rather splendid it looked too. As the season marches on, these have been succeeded by a mass of blue gorgeousness - helloooooo, Forget-me-nots! All self-seeded and all very welcome. 💙 #wildflowerhour

Maybe three weeks late for the #cowslipchallenge but they are still looking AMAZING here! And these ones look so jolly in the sun, on the Purbeck coast with a lovely sea view - I had to share! 🌞 #wildflowerhour

Two fabulous, fluffy, male Muslin Moths in the moth trap this morning (Weymouth, Dorset). Not unusual, but lovely nevertheless. 🧡 #teammoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

Hurrah! Saw my first Dingy Skipper of the year yesterday, near Charmouth in Dorset. Unfairly named, in my opinion, a lovely little butterfly and not dingy at all. 😍 And another first for the year - a Great Green Bush-cricket nymph posing on a Green-winged #Orchid. @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

What a wonderful time of year! Is there anything better than being immersed in literally thousands of gorgeous Green-winged #Orchids? Happy hours spent in West Dorset enjoying the lovely variety of colours and patterns - some obvious, some subtle, all beautiful. 💜 #Wildflowerhour

My recent trip to Rhodes with @mariposanature.bsky.social focussed on the many wonderful orchids there, but we found & enjoyed so much more besides. Here are a couple of #fungi seen - a rather lovely Morel just emerging from the forest floor & a cracking Collared Earthstar. Happy #FungiFriday! 🍄

#wildflowerhour Hindered by a glass of wine....again!!! 🍷😅

After being thoroughly spoilt on @mariposanature.bsky.social Orchids Of Rhodes tour, this week back at home has felt a bit empty. An orchid fix was needed! A fab trip to Durlston delivered Early Spider, Green-winged & Early Purple #Orchids to enjoy in a gorgeous location. Perfect. #wildflowerhour

A trio of Brassicas for this week's #wildflower challenge. My visit to the stunning Bluethroat at Swineham yesterday also gifted me displays of Garlic Mustard with bursts of pink Honesty. And today delicate Cuckooflower patrolled by Orange Tip butterflies - too flighty for a photo! #CabbageFamily

A gorgeous day for my Butterfly Transect at Lorton Meadows. 🌞 This Red Admiral looked fantastic on blossom, with Orange Tip & Peacock also seen. Other highlights: Early Purple #Orchid, Green Woodpecker & Marsh Harrier. @dorsetwildlife.bsky.social @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social @ukbms.bsky.social

My #woodlandplants for this week's #wildflowerhour are these stunning orchids - Violet Limodore. Sadly, not a UK plant, but they really are too gorgeous not to share - look at them!! 😍 One of many fabulous plants seen with @mariposanature.bsky.social on their exceptional #OrchidsofRhodes tour.

Just a couple of flowers found for this week's #cowslipchallenge taken in Dorset earlier this week before my holiday. A bit of a favourite spring flower - they are the perfect shade of yellow! Plus, as it's Easter, some gratuitous spring lambs, mid bounce!! 😃 #wildflowerhour

I see Common Field Speedwell so often, to be honest, I had forgotten how wonderful the flowers are. Got down on the floor this week in my local lane for a proper good look and was blown away - what a cracking little flower. #wildflowerhour

Whose day isn't improved by finding Scarlet Elf Cup #fungi?! 😃 Very happy to come across a number of these whilst enjoying the spring flowers in Dorset woodland this week. Happy #FungiFriday 🍄

Duncliffe Woods impressed today with extensive swathes of Bluebells (incl a lovely white-flowered one) creating magical carpets of colour. Plus, plenty of Wood Anemones - a pretty pink blush on the underside, delicate Barren Strawberry and gorgeous Greater Stitchwort flowers. #wildflowerhour

Also not #treeflowers - but pretty cool, in my opinion - the outcome from flowering last year - acorn germination in action! So many of these eye-catching red kernels seen in Duncliffe Woods today, thrusting their first root down into the soil to create the next generation of Oaks. #wildflowerhour