Greater Musk-mallow

It was great to find Greater Musk-mallow (Malva alcea) again yesterday, still clinging on in the road verge at Newton (VC64) where I first found it in 2013. This relatively uncommon garden escape looks like it still has another month's worth of flowers yet to come. A welcome sight at a time of year when many other species have gone over.

Malva sylvestris var. mauritiana

My latest find on the streets of Holbeck, Leeds (VC63) is this stunning form of Common Mallow. It's amazing what turns up on your local patch if you keep one eye open.

It also gave me another chance to look at the Ladybird Poppy (Papaver commutatum). A little worse the wear for recent weather, but still going strong. Another trait that seems to set this species apart from Common Poppy (Papaver thoeas) is petal retention, the latter seems far more ephemeral while the flowers on this plant have clearly been around for a while to get this weather worn.

Feeling Blue

Just spent the last few days down in Cambridgeshire (VC29) monitoring the progress of recently created calcareous grassland near West Wratting. The grasslands were putting on a good show and alive with bumblebees and butterflies. This unusual blue-flowered form of Common Mallow (Malva sylvestris) caught the eye, I thought it was Chicory (Cichorium intybus) until I got up close. It is very similar to some cultivated forms, but there are no grounds to suspect anything other than a natural occurrence via a chance mutation.