The words of the wonderful Flanders and Swann’s ‘Song of the Weather’ spring to mind this morning “In July, the sun is hot/Is it shining?/No, it’s not!”, as it seems hard to believe it really is summer! A wild south-westerly roars across the path, bring with it heavy showers and rolling banks of mist, reducing visibility down to just a hundred metres at times.
Nonetheless, the wonderful displays of flowers prove the season, with new plants coming into bloom almost by the day. Along the clifftop, Rock Samphire is newly in bloom – lemon-yellow flowers starting to open above fleshy green leaves (designed to store water like a succulent). At Tilly Whim, the very different Golden Samphire is also coming into flower, with distinctive yellow-orange daisy-like flowers.
A ‘forest’ of pink and white Wild Carrot dominates the clifftop, towering above an under-storey of Horseshoe Vetch and Yellow-wort. Here and there, the curious flowers of Carrot Broomrape can be seen. Looking a little like a dead orchid, this plant parasites neighbouring Wild Carrot, with Ivy Broomrape on the entrance road, and Common Broomrape (which feeds on grasses) in the meadows.
Other new additions to the clifftop floral display include delicate white Yarrow, Centaury and the small candy-striped pea flowers and sprawling roots of Restharrow, wedged into the steps above Tilly Whim. In the hedgerows alongside, Old Man’s Beard is just starting to flower, surrounded by masses of Bittersweet (as a member of the Solanum family, the yellow and purple flowers will be familiar to anyone who grows potatoes or tomatoes (although the alternate name of Woody Nightshade gives a clue as to their edibility!).
Thousands of Pyramidal and Common Spotted Orchids are still in flower in the meadows, along with Yellow Rattle, Rough Hawkbit, Corky-fruited Water Dropwort and Hedge and Lady’s Bedstraw to name just a few.