My wellbeing
My wild life started before I was old enough to walk, being regularly taken by my mother across the Epsom Downs to enjoy fresh air. Moving to rural Staffordshire aged 3, I was incredibly lucky to…
Water vole by Terry Whittaker/2020VISION
My wild life started before I was old enough to walk, being regularly taken by my mother across the Epsom Downs to enjoy fresh air. Moving to rural Staffordshire aged 3, I was incredibly lucky to…
Chamomile releases a beautiful, apple-like scent when crushed. For this reason, it was used in Elizabethan times as a plant for lawns and seats! Today, it is scarce in the wild, its grassland…
The fluffy, white seed heads of traveller's-joy give it the evocative, alternative names of 'old man's beard' and 'Father Christmas'. A climbing plant, it can be seen…
A scarce tree of England and Wales, the Large-leaved lime is the rarest of our native limes. It is tall and broad, and can be found in forests and parks, where it is frequently planted.
Learn a tradition with its roots in the Iron Age and build your own mini dry stone wall to attract wildlife.
The vast, green mats that sometimes cover the surface of still water, such as ponds, flooded gravel pits and old canals, are actually Common duckweed. A tiny, single plant, it groups together to…
Often overlooked, Lesser centaury is a tiny plant of grassy, open habitats like dunes, cliffs, heaths and grasslands. As its name suggests, it is much smaller than its relative, Common centaury.…
Flowering in spring, the cylindrical, densely packed flower spikes of Sweet vernal-grass are easily spotted in a meadow. It also tastes of sweet vanilla and was once a favourite 'chewing…
Introduced from Japan in the 19th century, Japanese knotweed is now an invasive non-native plant of many riverbanks, waste grounds and roadside verges, where it prevents native species from…
Living up to its name, the Robin's pincushion is a red, round, hairy growth that can be seen on wild roses. It is caused by the larvae of a tiny gall wasp that feeds on the host plant, but…