May 2014 – Adrian King's Blog

May 31, 2014

More garden flowers

Yesterday, I went to Garstons near Fareham for lunch, saw this primula and just had to have it. We’ve got to find somewhere to plant it, but I though I’d take a few photos before it was planted.

20140531_(Garden Flowers)_1367 — *Primula vialli*

20140531_(Garden Flowers)_1378 — *Primula vialli*

I’m still enjoying playing with my Yongnuo ring flash and have been practicing my fill-in flash technique with garden flowers. Here are a few of the best shots. I have to confess that my favourite shot is the one of Thrift. I didn’t realise what a pretty little flower this was until I got right up close and personal with it.

20140531_(Garden Flowers)_1436 — Sempervivium flower spike

20140531_(Garden Flowers)_1444 — Geranium spp.

May 26, 2014May 31, 2014

Knoll Gardens

We decided to take advantage of the reasonable bank holiday weather today and visited Knoll Gardens (http://www.knollgardens.co.uk/). I absolutely love what Neil Lucas has achieved at Knoll, its a really peaceful haven.

It was a shame to see that some of the large trees had fallen victim to the winter storms, but the huge Eucalyptus looks even more impressive on the ground, lets hope that there are enough roots intact to keep it alive and see how the gardens are adapted around it.

Whilst walking around the gardens, we heard a very vocal greater spotted woodpecker chick, and sat to wait for the adult to come and feed it. Here are my best shots of the youngster being fed.

Outside of the gardens is the most amazing display of Briza maxima, here are some nice shots of it.

20140526_(Knoll Gardens)_1320 — *Briza maxima*

20140526_(Knoll Gardens)_1327 — *Briza maxima* close-up of flowers

20140526_(Knoll Gardens)_1332 — *Briza maxima*

May 18, 2014June 1, 2014

Garden Flowers

This afternoon, I found this little chap hiding in amongst some flower pots, and managed to get a shot before he disappeared.

20140524_(Our Garden 2014)_1084 — A friendly neighbourhood frog.

Later on today we visited a local garden centre and picked up a couple of new grasses for our front garden.

Here are some close up shots of the flowers.

I also took some time to take a few close-ups of some of our garden flowers.

20140525_(Our Garden 2014)_1162 — Forget-me-not

20140524_(Our Garden 2014)_1049 — Dicenta

20140524_(Our Garden 2014)_1068 — Allium

20140525_(Our Garden 2014)_1223 — Sempervivium calcareum

May 15, 2014May 20, 2014

Hartslock Revisited

After reviewing my last set of orchid shots from Hartslock, I thought I’d return one evening when there was a bit more light about.

Here are todays crop of images.

2014-05-15 - Monkey Orchid (Orchis simia) — 2014-05-15 – Monkey Orchid (*Orchis simia*)

2014-05-14_(Hartslock)_0013-2 — 2014-05-15 – Monkey Orchid (*Orchis simia*)

2014-05-14_(Hartslock)_0021-2 — 2014-05-15 – Monkey Orchid (*Orchis simia*) – Close-up of flower

2014-05-14_(Hartslock)_0045-2 — 2014-05-15 – Lady x Monkey Hybrid (*Orchis x angusticruris*)

2014-05-14_(Hartslock)_0053-3 — 2014-05-15 – Lady Orchid (*Orchis purpurea*)

2014-05-14_(Hartslock)_0053-4 — 2014-05-15 – Lady Orchid (*Orchis purpurea*) – Close-up of flower

2014-05-14_(Hartslock)_0159-2 — 2014-05-15 – *Orchis x angusticruris* – Close-up of flower

2014-05-14_(Hartslock)_0177-2 — 2014-05-15 – *Orchis x angusticruris*

2014-05-14_(Hartslock)_0133-3 — 201405-15 – *Orchis x angusticruris*

2014-05-14_(Hartslock)_0305-2 — 2014-05-15 – Monkey Orchid (*Orchis simia*)

2014-05-14_(Hartslock)_0473-2 — 2014-05-15 – Monkey Orchid (*Orchis simia*)

May 13, 2014May 20, 2014

Orchids at Homefield Wood

Tonight I paid a visit to the Homefield Wood reserve in Buckinghamshire to have a look at the Military Orchids (Orchis militaris), Birdsnest Orchids (Neottia nidus-avis) and Fly Orchids (Ophrys insectifera).

There was a really good show of Military Orchids, but they need about another week before they’re fully out in flower. Regrettably I couldn’t find any Fly Orchids, but I did find several examples of the Birdsnest Orchid.

There was also a very obliging Common Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) which allowed me to take loads of photographs.

Here are the best of the bunch.

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) — Common Blue (*Polyommatus icarus*)

2014-05-13_(Homefield Wood)_0162 — 2014-05-13 – Military Orchid (*Orchis militaris*) – Close-up of flower

2014-05-13_(Homefield Wood)_0232 — 2014-05-13 – Military Orchid (*Orchis militaris*) – Close-up of flower.

2014-05-13_(Homefield Wood)_0322 — 2014-05-13 – Birds Nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis)

May 12, 2014May 12, 2014

Orchids at Hartslock

As I was working in Reading today, I thought I’d take the opportunity to get an early start and head over the border to Oxfordshire to visit the the Hartslock reserve near Streatley. This reserve is what reignited my interest in orchids after I stumbled on a Lady Orchid somewhat unexpectedly.

I was slightly disappointed as there are very few Monkey Orchids (Orchis simia) out at Hartslock, but there are loads of the Lady x Monkey Hybrids (Orchis x angusticruris) out.

I’ve posted some of my images here.

20140512_(Hartslock)_0919 — 2014-05-12 – Monkey Orchid (*Orchis simia*)

20140512_(Hartslock)_0879 — 2014-05-12 – Monkey Orchid (*Orchis simia*) – Close-up of flower

20140512_(Hartslock)_0826 — 2014-05-12 – Lady Orchid (*Orchis purpurea*)

20140512_(Hartslock)_0854 — 2014-05-12 – Lady x Monkey Hybrid (*Orchis x angusticruris*)

20140512_(Hartslock)_0845 — 2014-05-12 – Lady x Monkey Hybrid (*Orchis x angusticruris*)

May 10, 2014May 11, 2014

Early Purple Orchids at Badbury Rings

Despite the fact that it was blowing a gale this morning, I was determined to get across to Badbury Rings to have a look for Early Purple Orchids. There were plenty of Common Twayblades (Neottia ovata) in flower but as they were all quite tall, it proved impossible to photograph them due to the wind. There was also a nice show of Early Purple Orchids (Orchis mascula), and I’ve uploaded a few images here.

2014-05-10 - Early Purple Orchid (Orchis morio) at Badbury Rings — 2014-05-10 – Early Purple Orchid (*Orchis mascula*) at Badbury Rings

2014-05-10 - Early Purple Orchis (Orchis mascula) at Badbury Rings — 2014-05-10 – Early Purple Orchid (*Orchis mascula*) at Badbury Rings

2014-05-10 - Early Purple Orchid - Close-up of Flower — 2014-05-10 – Early Purple Orchid – Close-up of Flower

May 3, 2014May 11, 2014

Early Spider Orchids on Purbeck

Today, a friend and I visited Durlston Country Park and Dancing Ledge to hunt out the Early Spider Orchid (Ophrys sphegodes). We were due to visit last week, but the weather forecast was so dire that we gave it a miss. Most of the orchids were past their best, and there weren’t as many as I remember from previous visits, but we managed to find some nice ones anyway.

20140503_(Durlston & Corfe Mullen Orchids)_0289 — 2014-05-03 – Early Spider Orchid (Ophrys sphegodes)

20140503_(Durlston & Corfe Mullen Orchids)_0291 — 2014-05-03 – Early Spider Orchid (Ophrys sphegodes)

20140503_(Durlston & Corfe Mullen Orchids)_0339 — 2014-05-03 – Early Spider Orchid (Ophrys sphegodes)

20140503_(Durlston & Corfe Mullen Orchids)_0346 — 2014-05-03 – Early Spider Orchid (Ophrys sphegodes)

20140503_(Durlston & Corfe Mullen Orchids)_0391 — Dancing Ledge

20140503_(Durlston & Corfe Mullen Orchids)_0393 — Ian at Dancing Ledge

20140503_(Durlston & Corfe Mullen Orchids)_0429 — 2014-05-003 – Green Veined Orchid – Close-up of Flower

20140503_(Durlston & Corfe Mullen Orchids)_0449 — 2014-05-03 – Green Veined Orchid (Orchis morio)

20140503_(Durlston & Corfe Mullen Orchids)_0465 — 2014-05-03 – Green Veined Orchid (Orchis morio)

20140503_(Durlston & Corfe Mullen Orchids)_0468 — 2014-05-03 – Green Veined Orchid (Orchis morio)