David

Another garden flower which grabbed my attention.

Sometimes called a “Penny Bun”, this mushroom can be found at any time from summer through to early winter.

The large seed case of a cultivated variety, spotted in a front garden.

Used to make a herbal tea, and also claimed to have a wide range of beneficial properties by herbalists.

These are the cultivated variety of hawkbit, pictured early in the morning before they opened up.

The cold wet weather this summer has been bad for a lot of plants as well as animals. But some meadow flowers seem to have thrived. One such is yellow rattle. There has been a fine crop alongside clovers and grasses in the Barley Field in the Smestow Valley LNR.

The “rattle” part of the name comes from the seed-bearing stage later in the year. The actual seeds are held loosely in seed cases. As they ripen, the plant can be shaken to make a noise like a baby’s rattle.