I first saw this back in June, but there was so much to log on the website that the photo got overlooked and then it was too late – the flowers had finished. Next door’s bank has had at least one red campion just about all year round, but we had to wait until yesterday to spot this one on our bank. It looks a little sorry for itself but beloved by pollinators, this one has befriended two ladybirds –
the second one is on the next tier of leaves down.
Its purple buds open into deep pink flowers with five notched petals and a white centre. It annoys me that it is known as red campion when it is clearly pink!! It likes lightly shaded places – woodland, grassland, banks, hedgerows, and verges.
There is much mythology surrounding the red campion – it is said that it guards the bees’ honey stores and that it offers a hiding place for fairies.
