St Cross

After yesterday's shennanigans I went for a quiet ramble round the water meadows at St Cross this morning.  Hazel was with me as I'm dog-sitting this weekend.  What you see here is the church of St Cross.  To enter the grassed court where is stands you have to go through two medieval stone gateways.  The church is straight ahead and on the right are the attached 'Almshouses of Noble Poverty' where ancient pensioners (all men, lucky lads) live.  Also on that side of the gateway is the double-height medieval dining hall and kitchens (where, in fairness, their food is probably not still cooked).

On this side, though, is The Master's Garden, a really beautiful place to visit.  It is just behind the wall here.  So if you sat on said wall you would have on one side the garden with it's hedges and large pond full of waterlilies, plus the church, and on the other the watermeadows, the river (Itchen) and St Catherine's Hill.  An incredible setting, I need to borrow BobsBlips' drone to show you properly.  Meanwhile, this will have to do :))

The wildflowers growing in the foreground watercourse are purple loosestrife, which gives me a good excuse to remind you that #WFW05 ends today (results and hearts announced on Wednesday).  From tomorrow, please tag your wildflowers #WFW06.  And thank you so much to everyone who supports this challenge.

Happy Saturday evening  xx


A list of my blipped 2018 wildflowers to date:

JANUARY
Snowdrops
FEBRUARY
Gorse (or furze);  Wild daffodils
MARCH
Coltsfoot;  Primroses;  Blackthorn
APRIL
Greater periwinkle;  Goat willow;  Ground ivy;  Cowslips;  Daisy;
Common field speedwell;  Wood anemone;  Greater celandine
MAY
Cuckoo flower (or lady’s smock);  Yellow archangel;  Common dog violet;
Crab apple;  Bluebell;  Red clover;  Germander speedwell;
Three-cornered leek;  Hawthorn;  Yellow flag; Dandelion;  Common vetch; Dog rose;  Green alkanet;
JUNE
Bramble;  Stinking iris;  Dropwort;  Meadow buttercup; Sweet briar;  Red campion;  Butterfly orchid;  Poppies;  Nettle;  Birdsfoot trefoil;  Meadow cranesbill;  Sainfoin; 
JULY
Musk mallow;  Field Scabious; Ragwort;  Rosebay willowherb; purple loosestrife;