Bloomin' Ragwort

[essexbutterflyer]

Into November and I'm still finding ragwort blooming in the garden. And that's not the only place i'm finding it. By this time last year I am almost certainly sure there was little to no ragwort in bloom, however if i were to set out for a walk around campus in Brighton now i am confident i will find quite a few plants in bloom. It seems their season has been very extended this year... has anyone noticed the same?

Excuse the slightly inflammatory pun.

(I have hoped, in vain, to catch a butterfly nectaring on one in the past few weeks, but it seems the butterfly season wrapped up faster than the ragwort one)

Zayed

[David Lazarus]

Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris is still going here and it is great to see next year’s plants with lush basal leaves around, with hopefully numerous Cinnabar Moth pupa close by - and other invertebrates that depend on this spectacular plant. Unfortunately, it has gained a bad reputation, otherwise this plant would be so good as a superb addition to a garden. It is a common part of the tall herb plant community on the open grasslands of the River Chelmer floodplain. I think it goes particularly well with Yarrow Achillea millefolium in late summer with the Ragwort covered in yellow and black caterpillars.
There are also large patches of Narrow-leaved Ragwort Senecio inaequidens in part of the floodplain grasslands here and along the Essex sea wall which the Brown Argus and Common Blue can be found nectaring on. Remarkably having an extended flowering season here too.

[David M]

A very unfairly maligned plant.

Much beloved of Hedge Browns & Small Coppers, it continues to flower well into November. Here's some I saw whilst out earlier today:

[David Lazarus]

I was at Wallasea Island yesterday searching for migrant butterflies but found none. I also take note of the health of the habitat when I am looking for butterflies and what plants make up the plant communities within the different habitats - and how they are managed or not managed as the case may be. Your post Zayed got be interested in what was in flower - I started to take photographs and amassed quite a lot. I think what each has in common is that they are very successful plants within their own niches - some would call them aggressive and wrongly, in my opinion, use the incorrect term 'invasive' plants. I note in the recently published book Restoring the Wild by Donald MacIntyre some of these plants along with Nettles Urtica dioica and Broad-leaved Dock Rumex obtusifolius are not considered worthy enough to take their proper place within a "Wild" landscape as if they do not have a super important function and place within ecosystems [another topic perhaps].

Here is what I found and strangely perhaps it does not feel unusual to see the odd one here and there - even an annual, biennial or short-lived perennial popping out a flower, ever the opportunist.

Wild Carrot Daucus carota

Bristly Ox-tongue Helminthoideca echioides

Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris

Ox-eye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare

Creeping Thistle Cirsium arvense

Yarrow Achillea millefolium

Red Clover Trifolium pratense

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale

Lawn Daisy Bellis perennis

Cow Parsley Anthriscus sylvestris

Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium

Narrow-leaved Ragwort Senecio inaequidens

Perennial Sow Thistle Sonchus arvensis

And I could add Common Toadflax Linaria vulgaris, Hedge Geranium Geranium pyrenaecium, and even one flower on a Field Scabious Knautia arvensis here in the meadow I manage. Just shows you what happens if everything is not cut back until the spring - left to the invertebrates to enjoy, nectar, perch, shelter, and hibernate on.