Dodging showers has become a well-practised art form this spring and summer. Mark and I took the opportunity to get out for a walk during a dry spell to investigate the wildflowers that are currently blooming in the hedgerows just on the outskirts of Ramsey. I'm working on some ink-drawing tutorials and thought wildflowers would make a good subject, plus we wanted to get some more pictures uploaded onto the Isle of Man Nature Journal Unsplash account. As usual, the glorious Manx countryside didn't disappoint and we found lots of beautiful treasures nestling within the hedgerow. Read on to see what we discovered.
One of the first plants we came across was Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca / Pishyr lughag) which can be found across the Island in the summer. It's Manx name means 'mouse vetch' but it also has the common names of 'cow vetch' and 'bird vetch'. It was very popular with the bees and many were busy at work taking nectar from the tiny, pea-like flowers. We saw two other types of vetch on our walk. The yellow, Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis / Pishyr vuigh) was observed to have very dainty green veins when viewed closely, and then there was the familiar sight of Common Vetch (Vicia sativa / Pishyr chabbil) with its pink flowers and spreading tendrils.
As we continued, we saw that a gateway sheltered a mass of Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium / Farrain). I'm always a bit saddened a plant with such delicate parasols of white flowers should have been given such a disparaging name. There is the issue of the plant containing phytophototoxic compounds that can cause burns and rashes on skin that's exposed to sunlight, but it's not as dangerous as it's relative the Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), which can do real damage if it's sap gets on the skin in sunlight. I always enjoy looking at the flowers of the Common Hogweed when I'm on a walk as they're very often covered with a range of pollinators, such as bees, butterflies and hoverflies.
At one point, we found a patch of delicate pink flowers at the bottom of the hedge which we didn't recognise. We took some pictures and a bit of research at home revealed that this was a patch of Pink-Sorrell (Oxalis articulata / Shamsag ghlioonagh). The flowers were on long stalks protruding through other foliage and so we couldn't see the leaves. I managed to capture a picture of the gorgeous twist to the petals and darker veins when seen from the side.
The wonderfully trumpet-shaped flowers of Giant Bindweed (Calystegia silvatica / Lus y lheaney) were next to catch our attention. I wasn't actually sure if it was Giant or Hedge Bindweed until I found a helpful blog post called 'A Tale of Three Bindweeds' which comments on the differences between the two (and how they, in turn, differ from Field Bindweed). Apparently, it's the inflated-looking bracteoles (green bits at the base of the flower) of Giant Bindweed that give it away, as those of Hedge Bindweed tend to be less overlapped and taper down to the stem.
We saw quite a few Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum / Ullaagagh) flowers on our walk, but none in very good condition, and I got no hint of the sweet, heady scent. The scent tends to be strongest at night as these plants attract pollinating moths, such as the Elephant Hawk-Moth.
There were several wild roses in the hedge at various points. I'm not well-practised at identifying roses and can't work out the species from what I've read so far. The Wildflowers of the Isle of Man website details the Burnet Rose (Rosa pimpinellifolia / Drughaig veg) but these roses look a little different to the pictures I can find online. Burnet Roses are usually found on the coast but can sometimes be found on more inland hedgerows, such as the one I saw these in. If anyone knows the species, please let me know.
Of course, there were brambles. No hedgerow in the British Isles would be complete to me if it didn't have these scrambling stems with their pretty pink flowers or succulent berries (depending on the time of the year). I've just realised that a large part of this will be due to my love of the Brambly Hedge books as a child and, after a quick Google, I've found that the brand is still going strong. Yay!
One of the highlights of the flower-finding walk, was this patch of English Stonecrop. Easily overlooked at the base of the hedge, these flowers are so pretty when viewed up close. Mark managed to get a great photo of the starry flowers with the dark anthers on the stamen looking like the little bursts of a firework.
On our return home I decided to take some photos of some wildflowers I've allowed to grow in my garden. Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris / Lus y chione cast) and Cat's-Ear (Hypochaeris radicata / Cleaysh-chiyt) are usual visitors to the garden, but this year a Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea / Sleggan slieau) has geminated and flowered on a patch of lawn that I've left to grow long. It's wonderful to see how even little gestures towards rewilding can have such pretty benefits (as well as the ones for wildlife, of course).
I mainly used the Wildflowers of the Isle of Man website to help in my flower identification, however 'Wildflowers of Mann' by Andree Dubbeldam (2004) was also helpful (and is a generally lovely book anyway) and I also used 'Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland' by Blamey et. al. (2nd edition, 2013), which is unfortunately out of print, but full of beautiful illustrations and well worth picking up if you do find a copy anywhere.
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