The area of garden that I cultivated last year is tall with nodding verbena bonariensis, not because I have cultivated them, but purely because I've let them grow, removing what I consider to be weeds. Amongst these tall stems are samples of broom rape, mallow, foxglove, and other cottage garden specimens. If you look carefully there's still some bramble and bindweed.
Attracted to the view outdoors this morning by the fluttering of a large and orangy butterfly, I stood and watched a while, to try and work out which of the fritillaries it was, and spotted a crisp, new gatekeeper. There have been a couple of weeks of meadow browns already, so it's no surprise, despite the difficulties of predicting a season that has been dry and occasionally cool, before the current warmth and sun.
