NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

Last day of April. Cold. Dull. Wet. Very wet. What better antidote to all of this weather misery than to bathe in the memories of those warm, colourful days of summer with this offering of colour via the mass-flowering of plants, all mostly from a single species. They'll soon be here again... Kidney Vetch, Banstead Downs Wild Carrot, Langley Bottom Common Poppy, Langley Bottom Bluebell, Margery Wood

Langley Vale Farm was awash with the colour red this morning, as a number of the fields that have been allowed to 'rewild' have found that the Common Poppy has taken a liking to them. In a few corners Opium Poppy is the dominant species, and in between this festival of poppies are huge numbers of Common Field Speedwell, Scarlet Pimpernel, Field Pansy, Black Bindweed... I could go on. Needless to say, it is a visual feast. Also on show (and carrying on the red theme) were a minimum of nine Red Hemp-nettles (below), freshly coming into flower. This is a screaming rarity in the county.