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A Suffolk Lane

~ A diary of my life in rural north Suffolk.

A Suffolk Lane

Tag Archives: shrubs

This and That – Part 2

16 Thu Jun 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in Gardening, Insects, music, plants, Rural Diary, trees

≈ 44 Comments

Tags

Bee, blossom, cow parsley, Crabapples, dandelion, field maple, flowers, gardens, ground-ivy, Hawthorn, horse chestnut, Hoverfly, insects, jonquils, Lady's Smock, Maytime, miniature Tulip, narcissus, pasque flower, Pear, pieris, saxifrage, shrubs, St Mark's fly, Suffolk, trees, wild cherry

This post includes the better photos I took at home during the first half of May.

P1000073Miniature Tulip

I have a few miniature scented Tulips. I have no idea what they are called or even when I got them though I think they are about 18 years old. I had a selection of red, orange and yellow ones but all that’s left are the red ones.

P1000071Jonquils-001

These jonquils are tiny and the flowers bob about on their narrow stems like yellow butterflies. Each flower is only about 2 inches across.

P1000074Pasque flower

The Pasque flowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris ‘Alba’ )in my garden came out well after Easter this year. Not only was Easter early but the weather was cold and the flowers sensibly stayed as buds until the time was right.

P1000075Saxifrage

I love this pretty pink Saxifrage!

P1000077Wild cherry

Wild Cherry blossom (Prunus avium) with a visiting bee

P1000076Wild cherry

Wild Cherry blossom. I like the green-bronze colour of the new leaves.

P1000080Narcissus

Pale yellow double Narcissus

P1000081Pear

Pear ‘Concorde’ blossom.  This pear is supposed to be a dessert pear but by the time it is soft enough to eat it is already rotting in the centre.  Perhaps our climate isn’t suitable for it?  We harvest the pears before they have started to soften and we cook them or we prepare them for the freezer.

P1000082Pear

Pear blossom with a visiting Hoverfly.  The lichen is doing quite well too with its orange fruiting bodies.

P1000096St Mark's flies-001

These are St. Mark’s-flies (Bibio marci) doing what flies do in the spring. The female is the upper fly and she has smoky-grey wings and a small head. The lower fly is the male and he has silvery wings and a larger head. Both sexes have spines on their front legs at the tip of the tibia. You can just see this on the female’s front leg. These flies fly weakly and slowly and dangle their legs as though the effort of flying is almost too much for them. They are called St. Mark’s-flies because they usually appear on or around St. Mark’s day which is April 25th.  This photo was taken on 2nd May – it was a cold spring!

P1000104Lady's smock

Lady’s-smock or Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis) – a member of the cabbage family

P1000106Pieris

New leaves on my variegated Pieris ‘Forest Flame’

P1000182Crabapple s. blossom

Crabapple species blossom. Standing under this weeping tree I am almost over-powered by the scent of roses and the buzzing of bees.

P1000183Bluebells

These are the English Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) I am trying to establish next to the weeping crabapple. I have put canes alongside them to remind us not to mow them until the seeds have set and the leaves have died. I am also hoping that the canes will stop the deer from trampling the plants.

P1000185Dandelion

A beautiful Common Dandelion ‘clock’ (Taraxacum officinale agg.)

P1000187Crabapple 'Evereste' blossom

Crabapple ‘Evereste’ blossom

P1000189Crabapple 'Harry Baker' blossom

Crabapple ‘Harry Baker’ blossom

P1000191Ground ivy

Ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea)

P1000195Horse chestnut

The Horse-chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) with its flower ‘candles’

P1000197Field maple

Field Maple flowers (Acer campastre)

P1000199Hawthorn

Common Hawthorn flower buds (Crataegus monogyna)

P1000201Cow parsley

Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) (or as it is called here in Suffolk, Sheep’s Parsley) with a fly.  I am very fond of Cow Parsley and the sight of masses of it in flower along the lanes makes me happy.

Here is another song that features a wonderful trombone solo and a fantastic brass riff too!  This is a very old recording and it is also an uncommon arrangement for this song.

Thanks for visiting!

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This and That – Part 1

03 Fri Jun 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in Gardening, music, plants, Rural Diary, trees, weather, wild birds

≈ 70 Comments

Tags

amelanchier, blackbird, blackthorn, bluebell, countryside, cowslip, daffodils, English Elm, English Oak, garden, Goat Willow, green woodpecker, greengage, horse chestnut, Lords and Ladies, Marxh-marigold, pheasant, photography, rainbow, Red Deer, shrubs, Snowy Mespil, Suffolk, trees, white dead-nettle, wild cherry, wild flowers

I have taken a number of photographs over the last few weeks but haven’t had the time to write any posts.   Here are a few of the better pictures from April and earlier.

DSCN0205Red deer

Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)

Back in January I was driving home from shopping when I saw this small group of five Red Deer making their way across a field towards the road.  I had to slow down and then stop because I could see that they were not only made nervous by my car but their usual path was blocked by a fire someone had lit to get rid of brushwood.  They eventually managed to cross the lane a little further along and then carried on their way.  I took a photo of them through the car window and this is the result – heavily cropped.  I had thought that I had missed them and it was only when I eventually looked carefully at the shot on my computer a few weeks ago I realised that they were there!

DSCN0330Pheasants

The Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) family wandering through the garden at the beginning of April.

This is such an untidy photo with the recycling bin out by the roadside and my former car in the way too.  This is another photo taken through glass (the kitchen window this time – you can see a reflection in the bottom left corner of the picture).  We haven’t seen the pheasants for a while now so I presume the females are busy on their nests.

DSCN0342Garden after a storm
DSCN0341Garden after a storm
DSCN0340Garden after a storm

We had a storm with heavy rain and then the sun came out.  It all looked so bright and fresh, so I stood at the front door and took three photos, to the left, straight ahead and to the right.

DSCN0344Daffodils in the garden

A few days later I stood at the end of the drive and took this photo of the ditch that runs along the edge of the garden. We have daffodils growing all along its length. The lane runs parallel with the front of our property. You can also see my new car in this picture.

DSCN0346Pussy willow

Pussy Willow / Goat Willow (Salix caprea)

DSCN0355Goat willow

Goat Willow in flower

P1000039Cowslip

Cowslips (Primula veris)

IMG_1434Stormy sky

A stormy sky. A photo of our house (and the house next door) taken standing next to our big pond and looking across the corner of the field.

IMG_1435Summerhouse

The summerhouse

IMG_2741Green Woodpecker

A Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) looking for ants in the lawn

I was quite pleased with this photo as it showed all the different colours of its feathers, even the black and white spotted feathers under the wings.  This is a female adult as the moustachial feathers are all black.  The male has a crimson centre to the stripe.

IMG_2744Blackbird

A male Blackbird (Turdus merula) was also on the lawn looking for food.

P1000038White deadnettle

White Dead-nettle (Lamium album)

P1000040Wild cherry

Wild Cherry blossom (Prunus avium)

P1000041Bluebell

The first Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) flower in our garden this spring

There is nothing quite like the scent of Bluebells.  They are wild hyacinths but don’t have the cloying scent of the garden variety.  There is a sweet freshness that lifts the spirits and is irrevocably linked, to my mind, with birdsong, sunshine after rain and hope.

P1000043Greengage

Greengage blossom (Prunus domestica ssp. italica). I hope we have some fruit this year.

P1000044Cowslip

Some of the Cowslips in our garden are orange and red.

P1000047Oak

Pendunculate / English Oak (Quercus robur). New leaves and flowers (catkins) appear at the same time.

P1000048Marsh marigold

Marsh-marigold (Caltha palustris). I found it impossible to photograph this bright yellow flower well.

P1000059Marsh marigold

More Marsh-marigold

P1000051Horse chestnut

New Horse-chestnut leaves and flower buds (Aesculus hippocastanum)

P1000053Elm

Beautiful new English Elm leaves (Ulmus procera). We have a number of small Elm trees in our garden. Sadly they will only live for a few years before they succumb to Dutch Elm disease.

P1000061Lords and ladies

Lords and Ladies / Jack-in-the-pulpit / Cuckoo pint (Arum maculatum).  This plant has many names.   Its arrowhead-shaped leaves are often dark spotted.

P1000063Amelanchier

Snowy Mespil (Amelanchier canadensis) blossom

P1000065Blackthorn

Blackthorn blossom (Prunus spinosa). This poor photo is the only image of this year’s blossom I managed to get.

P1000067Rainbow

A rainbow behind the trees

All these photos were taken in April and in my garden, except the first one.

I find I haven’t made a music selection for a while so this post’s choice is ‘Let’s Work Together’ by Canned Heat.  Excellent lyrics, great tune and the best tempo ever!

Thanks for visiting!

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Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside

17 Thu Sep 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Days out, plants, Rural Diary, wild birds

≈ 34 Comments

Tags

beach huts, beach shop, cannon.Battle of Sole Bay, community radio station, flowers, fungus, GunHill, herring gull, high tide, lichen, life guards, pier, promenade, sand dunes, sea, seaside, shrubs, Southwold, Southwold & Walberswick ferry, Suffolk

My last but one post featured a walk we took on Dunwich beach.  This post is about a walk at Southwold.

As most people who live near the sea know, the best time to visit the beach is after the end of the school holidays.  There are fewer visitors and there’s a greater chance of finding somewhere to park your car.  The sea is warmer than at the beginning of summer and with luck the weather is good too.

We have been having fairly changeable weather this summer so when we saw that the weather was bright and breezy the other Saturday afternoon we decided to make the most of it and go to Southwold.  When we arrived we saw that the tide was right in and the northerly wind was causing the sea to be quite lively.

High Tide

High Tide

The waves were rolling in round the base of the steps that go down to the sand so we couldn’t get onto the beach just yet.

High Tide

Stairway to the sea

We walked along the promenade while the tide started to recede.

Southwold Pier

Southwold Pier

As I mentioned in a former post about Southwold, the pier was restored a few years ago.  It is fun to walk out there when the tide is in and see the waves splashing just under your feet.  There are places to sit and watch the waves and there are places to buy food and drink and shelter from the wind.  The end of the pier is very popular with fishermen.  This is a link to the Pier Cam which will show you a little of what we like to see.  There isn’t much to see at night except the lighthouse flashing but during the day-time it’s quite interesting and you get to find out what the temperature is on the coast too.  Don’t forget the time difference if you live overseas!

End of the Pier

End of the Pier

There seemed to be a number of young Herring Gulls about. (Larus argentatus)

Immature Herring Gull

Immature Herring Gull

Immature Herring Gull

Immature Herring Gull

Immature Herring Gull

Immature Herring Gull

It was a really pleasant walk along the front with other promenaders.  As the sand started to appear people ventured onto the beach and the life guards marked out the safe bathing areas.  Huddled in coats and blankets, the beach hut owners were sitting with the doors opened as they read or drank hot tea or coffee.

Beach Shop

Beach Shop

Southwold Beach

Southwold Beach

Southwold Beach

Southwold Beach

Elinor bewails the fact that our sea isn’t blue.  The North Sea is not deep and the sand on the sea-floor gets churned up especially in stormy weather.  Our sea is brown most of the time.

At the end of the prom. the path goes up the slope to Gun Hill.

Gun Hill

Gun Hill

On the 28th May 1672 a famous sea battle was fought just off-shore from Southwold.  This was the Battle of Sole Bay when the English and French fleets clashed with the Dutch fleet.  It was the first naval battle of the 3rd Anglo-Dutch War and ended with a tactically indecisive result though a strategic Dutch victory.  The English and French fleets combined had a total of 71 warships and the Dutch had 61 vessels and the total number of men taking part was said to have been 50,000.  There was great loss of life.  James, Duke of York the brother of King Charles II was Admiral of the English Fleet and took up residence for the duration of the battle in Sutherland House in the town.

IMG_5627Cannon on Gun Hill

Cannon on Gun Hill

There are six 18lb cannon on the green and were given to the town in 1746 by The Royal Armouries as protection to shipping against raids.

Gun Hill

Gun Hill

Their last known firing was in 1842 to celebrate the then Prince of Wales birthday.  Southwold was bombed during the First World War because the German army considered that Southwold might be a fortified place because they had seen the cannon.  The cannon were buried for safety during the Second World War!

Cannon

Cannon

Cannon

Cannon

Another feature of Gun Hill is the radio station building.

Community Radio Station

Community Radio Station in the Casino

The primary radio transmitting studio is located in an old WWII bunker in the grounds of St Felix School Reydon, a village next to Southwold but further inland.

Erigeron glauca

Erigeron glauca

A few naturalised garden plants thrive on the slopes up from the beach.

Unknown Yellow Daisy

Unknown Yellow Daisy

I don’t know what this flower is; I see it is suffering from mildew!

Tamerix

FrenchTamerisk (Tamarix gallica)

These plants are often planted for soil stabilisation or to act as a wind-break.  They aren’t native but have been established here for a long time and do very well on the coast.

Beach Huts

Beach Huts

There are beach huts all the length of the sea-front.

Gun Hill Beach Café

Gun Hill Beach Café

This is one of the two kiosks that sell food and drink.

Looking Towards Walberswick

Looking Towards Walberswick

Walberswick is the seaside village next to Southwold going south down the coast.  The two places are separated by the River Blyth as it flows out to sea.  There is a ferry operating during the summer months.

Looking Towards Walberswick

Looking Towards Walberswick

Sand Dunes

Sand Dunes

We thought we might walk through the sand dunes to the ferry.

Sand Dunes

Sand Dunes

The Marram Grass (Ammophila arenaria) was bending in the strong wind.

Fairy-ring Champignons

Fairy-ring Champignons (Marasmius oreades)

I found a rather shrivelled fairy-ring.

Sea Buckthorn

Sea-Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides)

The tree is small and suckers easily.  It has thorny twigs that have silvery scales that rub off.  The bark is fissured and peeling.

Sea Buckthorn

Sea-Buckthorn

The leaves are long and thin with silvery scales on them.  I couldn’t see any fruits on these trees so they were probably male trees.

Camp Site

Camp Site

There is a camp-site on the outskirts of the town.

We almost got to the River Blyth but Elinor began to get a back-ache and we had to turn round and make our way back to Southwold.

Towards Southwold

Towards Southwold

As well as the lighthouse you can see the tower of St Edmund’s church and the water tower.

Towards Southwold

Towards Southwold

Tiny House

Tiny House

Lichen

Lichen

Chickory

Chicory (Chicorium intybus)

Common Bird's-foot Trefoil

Common Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)

Southwold

Southwold with one of it’s many greens.

Southwold

Southwold

Southwold

Southwold

Lifeguards

Lifeguards

Southwold Beach

Southwold Beach

Sea at Southwold

Sea at Southwold

Southwold

Southwold

Southwold

Southwold

Southwold

Southwold

Here we were approaching the pier again and the car park beyond it.  You can also see the two-storey pavillion building at the end of the pier built in 1936.

I hope you have enjoyed this visit to Southwold.

Thanks for visiting!

 

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I talk about what it's like living in a quiet part of Suffolk. I am a wife, mother and daughter, a practising Christian and love the natural world that surrounds me. I enjoy my life - most of the time!

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