With the fair weather continuing into August, our urban flower meadows have flourished under the sunshine this summer.
Our perennial meadows are past their best in terms of aesthetic appearance for us humans, but the insects are still utilising them for valuable pollen and nectar resources. Wild carrot (Daucus carota) is still going strong in most of our 5 meadows, with yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and Viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare) being fairly abundant too. More information on the wildflower species in our perennial meadow mix can be found in the Reading team's blog post here. As well as being beneficial for insects, once the perennial meadows have mostly flowered and reached these later stages, they can provide important food sources for birds from the wildflowers that have gone to seed. Here are a few of our best snaps of the perennial meadows...
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| Burley Park meadow (Burley), late July |
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| Bombus terrestris on wild carrot |
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| Eristalis sp. hoverfly on carrot |
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| Surveying at Burley Park |
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| Burley Park meadow, mid-August - looking more bare now |
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| Cuckoo bumblebee on field scabious |
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| Cross Flatts Park meadow, early August |
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| Interesting parasitic wasp at Cross Flatts Park |
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| Ebor Gardens meadow (near Osmondthorpe), late July |
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| Ebor Gardens meadow, mid-August |
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| Brilliant, beautiful wild carrot |
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| Volucella inanis hoverfly on wild carrot |
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| Musk mallow has finished flowering in most meadows, but aren't the seed pods pretty? |
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| Scott Hall Pitches meadow (Potternewton), early August |
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| Scott Hall Pitches meadow, early August |
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| Scott Hall meadow, late August - what a difference a few weeks make |
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| Hedge bedstraw is still going strong in some meadows |
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| Stanhope Recreation Ground (Horsforth), early August |
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| Stanhope Recreation Ground, late August - not many flowers now |
Our annual meadows are looking fantastic right now, and have been doing all month. Now is the time to visit them if you want to see them at their best - for the locations of all our Leeds meadows, click here. The annual meadow seed mix is full of bright, colourful nectar and pollen-rich flowers. Each of our 10 annual meadows vary with which plants are the most dominant - some full of corn poppies (Papaver rhoeas), others are dominated by Cosmos, and some which are further on in their flowering season are now covered in Cosmidium. We just love taking photos of these meadows as they are so photogenic - especially when the sun comes out! - so here are a few of the best...
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| Armley Park meadow (Armley), late July - dotted with scentless mayweed and poppies |
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| Armley Park - poppies, cornflowers and mayweed |
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| Mayweed (Tripleurospermum inodorum) is not in the seed mix but proves great for pollinators like this solitary bee |
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| Armley Park, mid-August - more colour but fewer poppies |
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| Armley Park - now dominated by redshank (Persicaria maculosa)... |
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| ...which is also popular with pollinators like hoverflies |
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| Chapel Allerton Park (Chapel Allerton), early August |
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| Bumblebee on Cosmos |
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| Can you spot the honeybee enjoying this poppy? |
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| Hoverfly on sweet alyssum |
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| Chapel Allerton Park, late August |
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| East End Park (Osmondthorpe), late July - poppies galore |
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| Tree bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) on Cosmos |
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| East End Park, mid-August |
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| Hunslet Moor meadow (Hunslet), early August - the fun fair comes to town! |
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| Hoverfly checking out the marigold |
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| Hunslet Moor, early September |
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| Hunslet Moor - looking fantastic |
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| Honeybee buzzing off to her next flower! |
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| King Lane meadow (Moortown/Adel), early August |
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| Eristalis sp. hoverfly on Virginia stock |
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| King Lane: a riot of colour |
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| Small white butterfly on sweet alyssum |
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| King Lane meadow, late August - a great shot of an "urban" meadow! |
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| Middleton Park meadow (Middleton), early August - dots of colour here and there |
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| Male white-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) on cornflower |
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| Middleton Park, early September - now it's bursting with life |
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| Sunny Cosmidium |
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| Episyrphus balteatus hoverfly on Cosmidium |
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| Queen's Park (Pudsey), late July |
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| Poppies, Cosmos and Cosmidium looking great |
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| Queen's Park, mid-August |
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| Seacroft Ring Road meadow (Seacroft), late July |
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| A splash of colour to the Leeds Ring Road |
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| Seacroft Ring Road meadow, mid-August - a beautiful sight for the lorry drivers! |
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| Stanningley Park (Stanningley), early August |
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| Helophilus sp. hoverfly on Cosmos |
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| Stanningley Park, late August |
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| Hoverfly on poppy |
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| West Park Playing Fields meadow (off Spen Lane), early August |
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| Cornflowers and Cosmos - beautiful! |
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| West Park Playing Fields meadow, mid-August - glowing in the sunshine |
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| Honeybee on Cosmidium |
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