The Sombrun Forest Garden Project

Here’s a ‘bonus’ Blog to update you on the wild flower census, as it’s now two years since the last one, and I’m excited about the results! I’ve started using the PlantNet identification app for plants I’m not familiar with, as it’s easier and quicker than trawling through several plant books, plus species can be identified by the leaves as well as by flowers; you still need to treat the results with caution, as the app often includes several alternatives.

A case in point is the oddly-named Corky-Fruited Water-Dropwort (Oenanthe pimpinelloides), which I have mis-identified in the past as Queen Anne’s Lace or Wild Carrot (Daucus carota), but which I can see now is quite distinct. Both are white-flowering umbellifers, but the head on the former is flatter. Queen Anne’s Lace also has its immature flower head in the shape of an enclosed ‘basket’.

The total number of species on the new census is 77, an increase of 12 on two years ago, which is good news! I have introduced some ‘wild’ flowers such as Marigold, Borage, Camomile, Poppy, Amaranth and Hops from various sources, wild collected and bought, because they are a useful addition to the Forest Garden as insect plants, and for food and medicinal use, but because they haven’t arrived spontaneously they are not included in this census. They can be found in the Forest Garden Inventory (see Blog, July 24, 2023), which will be updated again soon.

Here are the census sheets; the species present so far this year are indicated by the green squares. The whole list given on the sheets probably includes some duplication through mis-identification over the years, but since they don’t affect the current total, I have left them in for now.

New wild flowers in the Forest Garden, left to right, top to bottom: Star of Bethlehem, Black Bryony, Corky-Fruited Water-Dropwort and Bitter Vetch.

There have nevertheless been eight completely new species of true wild flowers, so by any reckoning the garden is evolving. The new ones are: Field Madder (Sherardia arvensis), Spiny Sow Thistle (Sonchus asper), Corky-Fruited Water-Dropwort (Oenanthe pimpinelloides), Tall Fleabane (Erigeron sumatrensis), Tongue Orchid (Serapias lingua), Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum), Black Bryony (Dioscorea communis) and Bitter Vetch (Lathyrus linifolius). The last three have appeared in the Coppice area, demonstrating that the understory development there is under way.

In addition, there will be more species to add to the list as they appear in the coming weeks, and I will update on this later in the year. Many have already been logged in previous years and include Agrimony, Scarlet Pimpernel, St. John’s Wort, Bindweed, Euphorbia, Fumitory, Loosestrife, and Yellow Rattle. Thus in the end, the total number of species here will be closer to 100, not bad for just 3000 square metres! It’s a very satisfactory result, as it shows that, slowly but surely, a natural habitat is building, along with the ecosystems that go with it. I am far more excited about this than any amount of annual vegetables, because it is the true raison d’être of the Sombrun Forest Garden Project.