The joy of neglect

I spent the morning at a meeting in Whisby Nature Park, discussing an exciting new botanical project for Lincolnshire that will be be launched fairly soon. 

After lunch I dropped into the village of Navenby to do a bit of botanical recording. Everything's looking a little sad after the long dry spell, but here and there flowers persist. Villages are often hot-spots of biodiversity in areas of sterile arable desert. I particularly loved this area, where benign neglect has allowed a mix of plants to thrive, including red valerian, pellitory-of-the-wall, great willowherb, yellow corydalis, ivy and autumn hawkbit, all valuable nectar sources for the bees and hoverflies we so desperately need to pollinate many of our crops.