Biodiversity being lost at an Alarming Rate

Biodiversity expresses the richness of life on earth in all its complexity and order. It encompasses all types of life from the very basics to the most complex organisms. So how do we decide if biodiversity is healthy or in decline?

It seems one way to measure this is to check out your car number plate. We can do this using, The National citizen science survey of ‘bug splats’ on vehicle number plates to monitor flying insect abundance.

Anecdotally, I have noticed a decline in the gardens and woodlands around me. However, when there are lots of bugs in the air there seems to be a lot of just one sort at any one time. I suppose this will happen but doesn’t bode well for the future. Infestations, swarms and outright Biblical plagues may be to come.

Whatever, we need biodiversity and monitoring is essential to understanding where human behaviour is affecting it. Positively or negatively.

Cosmos – Garden Stars That Shine

The Daisy family, Asteraceae, is the second biggest and provides some of the best loved flowing plants we have. Cosmos are well ordered flowers with fine featherlike leaves that stand tall. The name Cosmos comes from the Greek for ‘ordered world’.

They are well ordered and keep their form, even when massed together, giving a super colourful display in any border. Colours range from chocolate, through orange, magenta, pink and white. All with a yellow centre with radial petals, like little solar systems or galaxies in perfect synchronisation. A very apt name, Cosmos.
Not a Common Lilac – Syringa pubescens

There are lots of plants that are referred to as ‘Lilac’, but not all are the same family. This particular Lilac is from Korea and China, the Syringa pubescens. Flowering at the same time a the common Lilac, it can be seen in gardens of Europe more and more. In my own garden I have had one many years, but as a shady garden it survives but prefers full sun.

These delicate tubular flowers can be anything from white to dark magenta and change as the flower develops. A much smaller, slower growing shrub than the Common Lilac.
Dry Spring Takes its Toll – East Anglia UK

Normally I like to take photos that highlight the beauty of the vegetation around me. However, we are experiencing dry conditions that are bordering on the extreme. The trees are now in full leaf and whilst they can draw water from deep down, the surface has become very dry and hard packed. So the next problem, when it does rain it may well just run off and cause flooding rather than soaking into the land.

Gardeners are already being warned of hosepipe bans to come, sooner than later. Not good for the luscious herbaceous borders we all love. Yet, looking at the weather map, Southern Europe and North Africa are getting heavy rainfall. This is what the Met Office thinks.
Tamarisk – Tamarix tetrandra UK Garden Highlight

May brings out this early flowering Tamarisk – Tamarix tetrandra uk – in cascades of feathery pink blooms that brings beauty to any suitable garden. As a native of hotter and drier climates where arid land, including salty coastal areas prevail, it doesn’t seem like a plant suited for the UK. However, being so versatile it can grow well in a sunny, well drained spot, with natural defences against the heat, wind and salinity.

It is one of the many flowering shrubs that require pruning just after flowing as the following years flowers develop throughout the growing season. The shrub grows to it’s full potential of 2-4 meters over a couple of decades depending on how ideal the conditions are.
Mayflower for May Day

May 1st opens with the flower that is often referred to as ‘May Blossom’ or simply, ‘May’. Found extensively in Europe the Common Hawthorn or Crataegus monogyna is part of the Rose family, Rosaceae.

Whilst the Hawthorn can grow into a tree of some 30+ feet, it is often used in hedges and trimmed annually to keep its size and shape. However, when allowed to grow into a row of trees, you get the wall of white blossom that looks so impressive. Hawthorne is good for the ecology providing for birds and insects alike.
Leucanthemum vulgar – Oxeye daisy everywhere

Oxeye daisy is now everywhere. It grows in abundance on the roadside verges, river banks, parks and any grassy areas that suit. They prefer a sunny location with well drained soil, and that means they will be at home on any south facing embankment, proliferating at the expense of most other flowers. Still a welcome site that cheers up the green landscape, or brown as it is becoming at the moment.

Leucanthemum vulgare or Oxeye daisy are part of the Asteraceae family with the typical daisy like flower head of white petals with a bright yellow central disc. This disc contains many nectar filled flowers that attract bees, butterflies and many other insects. So, good for the biodiversity, as long as they don’t completely dominate an area.

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