Fen flowers

Out all day in the fens, collecting more data for the 2020 Atlas, the Fenland Flora and the new Flora of Cambridgeshire, at a joint meeting of the South Lincolnshire .and Cambridgeshire Flora Groups near Tydd St.Giles.  We walked a long way in a warm and blustery wind along roads and bridleways, and although the diversity of plants was low, the company was good and we all learnt new things. One of the high points was meeting one of the landowners, who proved to be a very enlightened farmer, pioneering no-till systems to conserve the fenland soils, which have been degraded through years of factory farming. 

We arrived back at Tydd St.Giles church rather late, but the ladies who'd been providing teas for their annual flower festival stayed a bit longer so that we could have tea and biscuits - and we also learnt quite a lot about the history of the church from them. On my way home I passed this field of gladioli, and couldn't resist stopping to take a photo, even though the light was far from ideal. I imagine they're being grown for cut flowers - they certainly made a splash of vivid colour in the otherwise rather drab and autumnal fen landcsape.