Lilies

The morning sunshine streamed through the lilies that are currently perfuming our family room, bringing out all their glorious shades of pink. These were reduced to a ridiculously low price at Waitrose, all because one bloom was slightly imperfect.

I spent much of the day recording plants in various villages north-west of Grantham. I'd visited a couple of them in the summer but wanted to add on all the early flowering species, particularly snowdrops and winter aconites. The highlight of my day was visiting St. Swithun's churchyard at Long Bennington, which is being managed as a nature reserve by the Diocese of Lincoln in association with the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. It contains a wonderful mix of native species and garden species that have naturalised, as well as a wide range of trees and shrubs, including a venerable walnut. I met three of the people who care for the churchyard, and we chatted for some time about the flora and fauna. One of the workers was clearing out the gutters at the base of the church, which were full of tawny owl pellets!