As part of Great Big Green Week and the Churches Count on Nature initiative, members of our church community enjoyed a wonderful wildflower walk around the church grounds on Tuesday 9 June.

It was a lovely opportunity to slow down, look closely at the natural world around us, and discover the rich variety of plants growing in our grounds. Together we identified more than twenty different wildflowers and plants, including daisies, clovers, black medick, buttercups, red campion, herb robert, cow parsley, wild carrot, orange hawkweed, and many others. We were delighted by the diversity of species thriving in the church grounds.

The walk also gave us the chance to observe the wildlife that depends on these plants. We spotted plenty of bees busily visiting flowers throughout the morning.

To round off the morning, we gathered together for cups of fresh mint tea made using mint picked from the church herb garden.

Many thanks to everyone who took part and helped identify the plants we found. It was a lovely way to spend a morning, enjoying fellowship, learning about nature, and celebrating the wonderful wildlife that shares our church grounds.

A full list of what was identified:

• Plantain
  
• Dandelion - hawksbeard
  
• Black medick
  
• Clover
  
• Daisy
  
• Herb bennett
  
• Lesser willow herb
  
• Buttercup
  
• Cleaver
  
• Cow parsley
  
• Dock
  
• Spanish squill
  
• Bramble
  
• Betony or woundwort
  
• Chick weed
  
• Red campion
  
• Herb robert
  
• Variegated yellow archangel
  
• Nettles
  
• Groundsel
  
• Wild carrot
  
• Orange hawkweed
  
• Oxalis
  
• Bindweed
  
• Wall lettuce
  
• Sow thistle