And that’s a wrap on a year of watercolour #WildflowerHour: 365 flowers painted within a week of blooming. Mostly wildflowers, with a few garden escapes, and a whole lot of joy.

First snowdrops flowering in a sheltered courtyard in York, while the red campion clings on to summer and the dandelions remain bright. I’m celebrating #WildflowerHour with marzipan flowers for the Christmas cake this year.

Anyway is this the story I had published this year that made the most people claim to have leaked their precious vital essences out of their eyes? MAYBE. Am I thinking about the end of the world a lot? (A lot a lot a lot?) YES. psychopomp.com/everyone-kee...

We're currently looking for new Associate Editors to join our Editorial Board! 🌎🧪 If you're interested in contributing to the publishing landscape, check out the link below 👇 www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/appl...

Another self-heal to mark 330 flowers, as I approach the end of this year-long watercolour self-challenge. The really big question is, with 20 panels per page, will I stop at 365 flowers, finish the page at 380, or just keep going forever and ever and ever… 🌸

🌿🍄‍🟫🌱🍄We’re recruiting!!🌿🍄‍🟫🌱🍄 I’m looking for two postdocs and a technician to join my group @sheffielduni.bsky.social @sheffieldpps.bsky.social to work with me on my exciting @royalsociety.org Faraday Discovery Fellowship project, details for each post as follows:

We are happy to introduce the Soil Ecology SIG @britishecologicalsociety.org! Our aim is to connect soil ecology researchers across career stages, facilitating knowledge exchange and collaboration. Check out www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/plan... and feel free to get in touch!

🧵Can recognising rivers, forests, and mountains as legal persons help heal our planet? 🌏 Our new blog explores environmental personhood — from Ecuador’s pioneering constitution to Māori perspectives on the Whanganui River.

📣Calling ecological leaders! We're looking for people with a passion for effective leadership and management in the ecology workplace to join our Emerging Leaders and Managers (ELM) network committee.

'Golden Park Light' linoprint by contemporary printmaker Alexandra Buckle #ReframingWomenPrintmakers #Autumn #Fall

FOLKS! We are SO VERY NEAR to securing the peerless archive of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson for the nation, forever. That's Hancock, Steptoe and Son plus so so much more. Its all their scripts, professional correspodence, plus diaries, working notes - the lot yustart.hubbub.net/p/galtonands...

My #FavouritePlant for #WildflowerHour is probably the late spring bluebells, but I always enjoy looking out for the bee orchids on campus @york.ac.uk every June 🥰

A quick reminder: if you read something you love, don't forget to write to the author to thank them for it, and tell them why you loved it.

Good morning from the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall. May your day be as serene as the Great Hall is on a Sunday morning.

Tansy, field bindweed, dog rose and poppies still valiantly bringing their colourful cheer to the end of the summer for #WildflowerHour

“What it has done, though, is made me think in more detail about the nature of what we define as work and what we define as “rest” from work.”

It’s the weekend! May your Saturday be as colourful and bright as the plasterwork on the Hall is yellow. 💛

Jalene LaMontagne, colleagues win 2025 Robert P. McIntosh Award from the Vegetation Section of the Ecological Society of America for research on community synchrony in seed production. #ESA #LTER #MastSeeding blogs.umsl.edu/news/2025/08...

(a) This story sounds amazing and (b) that mysterious character on the cover is clearly related to the legendary #LongBoi of York 🦆 so (c) how could I not pre-order it before I’ve even had breakfast?

I'm very proud to receive the 2025 Robert P. McIntosh Award from the @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social Vegetation Section at #ESA2025 with an amazing group of colleagues, for our paper on Community #MastSeeding. 🥳 Paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... Award info: esa.org/vegetation/a...

It’s late summer and the Asteraceae or daisy family are looking just splendid. Perfect for this week’s #WildflowerHour! See if you can find one & share your pics this Sunday evening 8-9pm using the hashtag #DaisyFamily. Happy Asteraceae hunting!

Want to make a difference in ecological policy? Join the first Journal of Applied Ecology and British Ecological Society Policy Lab to answer the pressing question: “What is irreplaceable habitat?” Your expertise can drive real-world impact. Applications open until 15 September.

This is an official Skype a Scientist HQ Mayday Alert to all Archaeologists. We've already gotten more requests for archaeologists than we have archaeologists. We have 38. We need a lot more than 38! Dig yourself into this database, we NEED ya www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html

It was a week of five-petalled #WildflowerHour beauties for me - creeping cinquefoil, scarlet pimpernel, sea-spurrey, and then glorious heather and gorse sprinkled with ragwort above the sea cliffs (still #ByTheSea)

This week’s challenge is #PollinatorPals! Find a flowering wild or naturalised plant with a pollinating visitor & snap away. Of course it’s not just about bees! Butterflies, moths, wasps, flies & beetles can all be #pollinators too! Share your pics for #Wildflowerhour this Sunday 8-9pm!

The sandcastles were the only thing I photographed towering #ByTheSea this week, but tormentil and heather covered the Northumbrian hills, cornflowers were in bloom and the butterflies were loving the buddleia for #WildflowerHour

Tansy and purple loosestrife glowing in the sunshine this week #WildflowerHour

✨New science, new ideas, new friends.  Our much anticipated BES Annual Meeting is here!  Join ecology's global community at the BES Annual Meeting, which brings together over 1,200 ecologists from around the world.

The image for this week’s #wildflowerhour challenge post is one from W. Keble Martin’s classic wildflower guide, The Concise British Flora in Colour. Isn’t it a beauty? There’s some very lovely members of the Lamiaceae or #DeadNettlefamily can you find one for #wildflowerhour this Sunday 8-9pm?

Introducing FRISBEE: the Farm Rewilding Investigation into Species Biodiversity, Ecology and Environment research project, by Prof Curtis Jarsdal, Uni of Borkshire. Curtis has written about the reason for the study and what he and his team hope to learn. fieldworkpodcast.substack.com/p/frisbee-fa...

A new Ecological Management Plan is being developed, with the aim of delivering a nature-positive campus for all. The @york.ac.uk campus includes parkland, grassland, meadows, lakes, ponds, wetlands, reedbeds & landscaped gardens. Tell us what you'd like to see: york.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Is there a wildflower more evocative of long summer days than the beautiful Harebell?! Campanula rotundifolia is of course also known as the Scottish Bluebell. The challenge this week is to see if you can find one for #Wildflowerhour! Share your pics this Sunday 8-9pm! 💙

We're advertising two artist's residencies at Thin Ice Press: the York Centre for Print. Please share! www.thinicepress.org/research/pri...

Lots of stuff happening with the Journal of Play in Adulthood at the moment! New articles, (2!) new special issues in the pipeline, but also always open for submissions on anything to do with play and adults, and always free to read / publish in... playfullearningassoc.co.uk/journal-summ...

And it’s Friday! I’ve celebrated getting to the weekend by painting my 200th tiny flower, the fuchsia that is reprehensibly but cheerfully growing out of my doorstep. The late June/early July page is so colourful and bright 🌼🥰

Crocheted a geode, like you do 🧶 #crochet

Some are stellate, glandular, forked, simple or branched. What are? I hear you ask! Hairs! This week’s challenge is to find a hairy plant, the hirsuter the better and examine its trichomes! Post your bristly pics using the hashtag #hairyplants for #Wildflowerhour this Sunday 8-9pm

Woo-hoo another award for Pedagodzilla. Top Ten Educational Comedy podcasts - we're in at number 6 www.millionpodcasts.com/educational-... @lizisabella.bsky.social @r3beccaf.bsky.social @mikecollins.bsky.social

ALDinHE are looking to fund a number of small-scale research projects, which aim to help promote learning development as a scholarly activity. Apply by 18 July 2025. Applicants will be notified in October 2025 http://aldinhe.ac.uk/research/scholarship-funding #LoveLD

Hey #AcademicSky - Do you use #boardgames or #cardgames in #LTHE? Or management #training?- we want to hear all about it! I am guest editing the journal of play in adulthood with @lizcable.bsky.social - drop us a line! www.journalofplayinadulthood.org.uk/news/

I’m at #PlayLearn25 surrounded by pipe cleaners, googly eyes, games and a brilliant crowd of inclusive, joyful educators. It’s one of my top two conferences and communities in the world, and you can all get a sneak peek inside the doors thanks to Simon Overton’s amazing video: youtu.be/nbQHKLe61NQ

Dark Red, Marsh, Dune, Green-flowered, Broad-leaved - can you find a flowering Epipactis species for #WildflowerHour this week? If you can, share your finds this Sunday 8-9pm using the hashtag #HelleborineChallenge! With special thanks to @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social for this week’s theme!

What if we measured progress not just by income or life expectancy - but by how well we live with the rest of nature? A major new paper proposes the 'Nature Relationship Index (NRI)' - a bold rethink of development metrics. Here’s why it matters.👇 #NatureRelationshipIndex #GlobalThreads

Annie Soudain, contemporary UK printmaker #WomensArt #June #ReframingWomenPrintmakers

In this episode @garybrannan.bsky.social and @helenacoxcurator.bsky.social talk to @anaspene.bsky.social and the themes range from the interplay of art and biology to bringing creativity into every aspect of life, writing fiction and painting for pleasure- and MUCH more! 😍🦆

An all time classic. #WorldBollardAssociation

NEW EPISODE is out now of Curator and Keeper - the University of York Art Collection podcast! Tune in and join Dr. Helena Cox, Gary Brannan and special guest Prof. Pen Holland on another stimulating journey up the arts; as we discuss learning through play, Longboi, and his many adventures since.

Badger on a skateboard: SCIENCE POWER!

Six months and 180 flowers in, my #WildflowerHour inspired daily watercolour habit has improved my painting and flower ID, and helped me really appreciate how regular, long-term practice develops skills that can’t be appreciated day-to-day. And it brings me great joy! Six months to go…