Although the valley looks greener than last month the watermeadow doesn’t as the grass looks a lot drier. This is a bit puzzling, but perhaps it’s because we have a higher proportion of grass in our bit, maybe not as much bindweed clambering over everything.
Pops of colour in the meadow include orange montbretia blooms, spears of purple loosestrife over on the right, and a flourish of water mint in the centre bottom with some purple flowers. Some bulrushes are starting to spike near the top of the picture where the pond is. The pathways are very overgrown, as we haven’t had a chance to get down there to tidy them up.
Here are August and July side-by-side so you can compare and contrast:
The montbretia is a bit of anomaly as I’m sure it is new this year. We used to have a lot in the top garden, and we pulled most of it up as it seemed to be taking over. Now it appears down in the bottom, so I hope it isn’t going to make a bid for domination. I wasn’t sure whether to count it as I thought it was a garden plant, but along with hydrangeas and fuchsias, it is not unusual to see it in Cornish hedgerows and verges, and it is looking quite at home down there.
