Love the colours of Viper's Bugloss. Quite a few in bloom around Cambs this weekend. #WildflowerHour @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

How about some Autumn Heather for this week's #WildFlowerHour... Lots of it out around here at the moment. @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Bee and Lizard orchid rosettes in our local (Cambs.) country park, getting ready for Winter. I hope there's a little more rain for them next year... 🤞🏻 @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

And finally, a few more #FavouritePlant (s) from this year. Purple Toothwort was a first for me - thanks @rogerhorton.bsky.social for the guidance 🙂 Looking forward to next year, with #TheWinterTen in the meantime... ❄️ #WildflowerHour @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

I gave in... here's a collection of some of the amazing flowers I've seen this year... Mostly orchids, and I'm not naming them, you have to work it out 😉 #WildflowerHour #FavouritePlant Looking forward to finding them all again, and more, in 2026 🍻 @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Difficult to choose a single #FavouritePlant for #WildflowerHour - I usually cheat & post a collage! But, I saw Early Spider orchids for the first time this year. It was a fantastic day out in Kent, and @dunnjons.bsky.social found a particularly stunning aberration.... @wildflowerhour.bsky.social

A selection of #SeedHeads for this week's #WildflowerHour - names in ALT text. I tried to find a few with flowers as well as seeds on the same plant, to add some colour! 🙂 @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

I attempted a 🌈 of #Fruits for this week's #WildFlowerHour challenge 🙂 I'm not 100% sure they're technically all "wild", but I needed the colours... 😅 Names in ALT text.

The Common Centaury that grows locally is now past its best, so here is a pic when it was fresher, a few weeks ago... #WildFlowerHour #GentianFamily @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Can you find a flowering member of the Gentian family or Gentianaceae, that’s the challenge this week. Post your finds for #WildflowerHour this Sunday 8-9pm using the hashtag #GentianFamily. Happy flower hunting!

I found some Beds. Autumn Lady's Tresses yesterday for #WildflowerHour. It's a happy and sad occasion... I love seeing them - they're stunning - but it also marks the end of the UK orchid season! @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

Common Fleabane for this week's #WildFlowerHour challenge - #DaisyFamily. They're a gorgeous yellow 💛

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!

For #WildflowerHour this week, here is some Eyebright (possibly Rigid Eyebright?) I was looking for Autumn Lady's Tresses, but they don't appear to be out yet in Cambs. @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

The stellar Ghost Orchid hunting skills of @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social on full display this afternoon in the French Alps. Within ONE minute of getting on a new site, he'd found us a flowering plant! There's nobody better at finding these elusive forest wraiths.

@jonheath.bsky.social and I had a great day out in Suffolk, watching the aerial antics of the Zitting Cisticola, then got great views of the juv. Black Stork.

We went to the North Norfolk coast to look for Creeping Lady's Tresses, but couldn't find any for this week's #WildflowerHour challenge, #ByTheSea. So here are some photos of Broad-leaved and Violet Helleborines I found this weekend in Beds. @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Just before #WildflowerHour starts, here is another photo I took of some gorgeous Chalkhill Blue butterflies near Cambridge earlier this week... @ukbutterflies.bsky.social @epollard.bsky.social

BREAKING NEWS. This identification has been confirmed by @chrisvanswaay.bsky.social FYI @ukbutterflies.bsky.social @patrickbarkham.bsky.social

A pair of Chalkhill Blue butterflies in Cambridgeshire earlier this week. Lots around 🦋 @ukbutterflies.bsky.social @epollard.bsky.social

Some #DeadNettleFamily plants for #WildflowerHour. Lesser Calamint and Betony from earlier this week, and Balm, Marsh Woundwort, Yellow Archangel, Ground Ivy, Black Horehound, White Dead-nettle, Bugle & Red Dead-nettle from earlier this year 🙂 @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

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?

I didn't get chance to look for Harebells for the #HarebellChallenge, but did find some walnut-sized blackberries along with lovely Chicory and Field Scabious when I cycled along the busway after the rain this afternoon, for #WildFlowerHour 🙂

Thanks to some help...a butterfly lifer! 😊 Chalkhill Blue at Devil's Dyke, Cambs today @epollard.bsky.social @cycle4nature.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Feather-grass is possibly the hairiest plant around Cambridge that I know. Beaten only by Traveller's Joy (but that's only hairy much later in the year!) Great Willowherb, Ragwort, Marsh Woundwort & Common-spotted orchid too. Great #WildFlowerHour #HairyPlants challenge! 🙂

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

I believe these are the only Marsh Helleborines in Cambridgeshire, for this week's #WildflowerHour- #HelleborineChallenge The Marsh Fragrant orchids were in full bloom, too, and many Scarlet Tiger moths on the wing. @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

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!

A few Common Spotted orchids from a local chalk pit for #WildflowerHour. Very low numbers compared to last year, with some of them completely over already. Collage-bombed by a Marbled White, again! @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

Best of Cambridgeshire today. Ancient woodlands and chalk grassland. Hot and sunny, though a brisk breeze. First up @wildlifebcn.org Brampton Woods. A bit of a recce for next week's walk. Got very luck with this Purple Emperor, and a Silver-washed Fritillary reading the information board.

No #AquaticPlants for me this week for #WildflowerHour - there's a chance for next week, though... Instead, some very nice Lesser Calamint has just come into bloom in Cambridge 🙂 @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

With warmer temperatures forecast for the end of the week hopefully you’ll appreciate a watery theme for this week’s challenge! Find wild or naturalised aquatic plants in bloom and share for #wildflowerhour this Sunday 8-9pm using the hashtag #AquaticPlants 💦🌱

A special orchid for this week's #WildflowerHour - the local Leopard Marsh orchids are arriving... Expect more photos over the next few weeks... 😅 @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

Greater Butterfly orchids growing in ancient Cambridgeshire woodland, for #WildflowerHour. One of my favourite orchids 🙂 @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

A few of last week's orchids for #WildflowerHour... Chalk Fragrant, Early Marsh incarnata ssp. leucantha, Southern Marsh, pale Common Spotted, Greater Butterfly, plus a Marbled White snuck in there 🙂 @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

I'm still preoccupied with orchids (!), but managed a couple for this week's #WildflowerHour challenge - #PeaFamily... Names in ALT text. Very few Bee orchids this year. @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Quite a special orchid for this evening's #WildflowerHour... A white Lizard orchid that grows in the Midlands near my parent's house. The small colony is 16 this year, with two stunning white variants 🙂 @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

White-winged Black Tern at Fen Drayton Lakes yesterday (and still there today). What looks to be the same bird was present at Fowlmere NR the previous evening, and perhaps earlier in the day at Pulborough Brooks @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social #ukbirding

Thought it might be fun to pull together a collage of the past decade's Ophrys (Fly, Early Spider, Bee, and Late Spider) variation highlights I've seen in Kent, the county that just keeps on giving where #orchids are concerned.

One of my favourite orchids for this week's #WildFlowerHour #OrchidChallenge, Early Marsh orchid subsp. coccinea. They are just beginning to bloom along the North Norfolk coast. The colour! ♥️ @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

It’s that time of year when social media just seems to be full of gorgeous orchid pics! The challenge this week is to see if you can find one! Share your orchidaceous finds for #WildflowerHour this Sunday 8-9pm using the hashtag #OrchidChallenge. 📸 William Keble Martin

Last one for this evening ‐ Suffolk Military #orchids #WildflowerHour #WildFlowerShow I would have loved to have seen Rex Graham's face when he discovered them 70 years ago! @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

A few Hertfordshire Fly #orchids for this week's #WildflowerHour challenge - #WildFlowerShow... One of my favourite UK orchids, and one day I hope to find one in VC29 🤞 @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

Bedfordshire Burnt #orchids for this week's #WildflowerHour challenge - #WildFlowerShow 🙂 They're quite a lot smaller than last year, probably because it's been so dry. Still absolutely stunning, though! @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

For the #WildflowerHour challenge this week - #WildFlowerShow, here is a selection of this season's #orchids, mainly from Cambs. and neighbouring counties. Still more to come... 🙂 Names in ALT text. @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

A few more for #WildflowerHour ‐ names in ALT text. Various Cambs. orchids are arriving - plus the Military orchids just over the border in Suffolk. Common and Adonis Blues were braving last week's wind along Devil's Dyke. And the local "men" are still tiny... 😅 #Orchids

This week's #WildflowerHour challenge is the #PinkFamily 🙂 Greater Stitchwort, Ragged Robin, White Campion, and Common Chickweed. Mouse-ear Hawkweed snuck in there - as an outcast 😅 @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

A selection of #orchids for this week's #WildflowerHour... Early Marsh subs. incarnata are just emerging, Twayblades are shooting up, and Green-Winged are still going strong. One of the EMOs might be a var. cruentia - I will return next week, when it's grown more 🙂 @bsbibotany.bsky.social

A few Early Frog orchids have arrived in a Cambs. meadow. Some of them have particularly long bracts. Relatively easy to spot, whilst the grass is still short! @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social #WildflowerHour #Orchids

As I'm in Cambridge, this week's #WildFlowerHour challenge, #HighUpPlants, would have been challenging! So here is a selection of early orchids instead - Early Spiders in Kent, and Early Purples and Green-winged in Cambs. 🙂 @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social