Ferns

Ferns really come into their own at this time of year, looking fresh and lovely while many flowering plants are dying back. I’m finding them hard to identify though! Two easy ones are maidenhair spleenwort and wall rue, both small but impressive for their ability to cling to seemingly bare walls. Male fern and soft shield fern…

October 1st

In the vegetable patch, plenty of weeds are enjoying the autumn sunshine. Daisies, foxgloves, catsear and nipplewort are still in flower in the grounds of Moorhaven while the hedgerows sport a mix of late specimens of summer flowers, like campions and rough chervil, and autumn flowering cyclamens, marjoram and water pepper. The cyclamen is an…

Dartmoor in September

Chamomile is listed as Vulnerable in the UK because its favoured habitat of acidic, closely cropped or trampled soil is declining. Fortunately the golf course provides just that habitat at the top of Leigh Lane, where the cows congregate in poor weather. Among the chamomile, autumn hawkbit and marsh cudweed are late flowerers. Sundew thriving in marshy spots along the…