NT Ickworth with its Rotunda, Ducks, Wildflowers... and Sheep

We had a lovely visit to NT Ickworth earlier this week. There were plenty of ducks about...

Some were upside down while others were more stream-lined!



 We were pleased to see a good number of Tufted Ducks...

 and a few Coots.



The Moorhen below was about to make its way through the newly-planted box hedge towards the lake. The scent of young box was wonderful!

 The photo below shows our first view of the classical Rotunda through the trees...




I decided I would keep an eye out for early wildflowers, starting with [1] Daisy.

[2] Groundsel

[3] Chickweed

[4] Dog's Mercury



[5] Red Dead Nettle



[6] Primrose (plus what I think are the two-tone leaves of Yellow Archangel).

 [7] Comfrey, I think...

[8] Aconite

 
[9] Snowdrop [update: correction - Conehead54 tells me this is Spring Snowflake. Please see comments below]

[10] Wild Arum (not yet in flower)...

I'm not very good at identifying blossom: do let me know if you recognise the species below. [Update: please see comments below - Conehead54 tells me this is a Viburnum.]



There were some fine catkins dangling in the shadowed sunshine. 

There were also quite a few logs lying about, some covered in moss. A pile like this makes the perfect des res for insects. 

We emerged from the woodland area and walked through the parkland towards the church and walled garden, passing the sheep. Apparently it will be another two weeks or so until they lamb. Like fellow blogger, The Quiet Walker, I find sheep so photogenic...

I noticed a couple of queen bees on the wing, but failed to photograph them. One touched down in the woody area in the photo below, and disappeared. The little acorn cup reminded me of a rather charming couple of lines by an American 19th century poet:

‘… the pride of the forest was folded up

In the narrow space of its little cup!’

H.F. Gould, The Pebble and the Acorn

This Grey Squirrel was rather camouflaged in among the branches. It caught our attention when it moved...

  This is the view of the lake...

 ... and this is the view from the other side, looking back towards the church

 ... and the rotunda.

There are two churches, one (the parish church) dedicated to St Leonard by the entrance to the park and the second, dedicated to St Mary, inside the grounds. St Mary's has some beautiful flint-work.

We have often seen good numbers of ladybirds in this area, but, perhaps on account of the cooler weather, we failed to see any yesterday.

It was time for a cup of tea so we headed back to the area around the Rotunda for Earl Grey and (in my case) a slice of coffee cake.

I particularly like the fact that there is a mini-rotunda carved on the frieze!

We bought a pot of daffodils on our way out to add an extra splash of colour to our garden at home.

#welcomesignsofspring

A Trough for Wildflowers ~ Responding to a BBC Springwatch SOS

Those of you who read my previous post will know that we visited NT Ickworth some days ago to see the wonderful lambs. The photo above shows the striking rotunda, and if you click the next link, you will see a photo of another rotunda, this time on Belle Isle in the Lake District, which is associated with Fletcher Christian of Mutiny on the Bounty fame (or infamy). But I digress. 

This post is neither about lambs nor acts of derring-do on the high seas. The photo above shows the walled garden at Ickworth last August, when the wildflowers were abundant. Now you may feel that to grow wildflowers from packaged seed is a bit of a contradiction in terms; but, quite apart from the riot of colour, just think of all the pollen that will be attracting our insects. And we do have a nettle patch at home as well.

[UPDATE on 11 April 2017: at this point it seems a good idea to insert the helpful comment from fellow poet and blogger, Mavis Gulliver, as some of us may wish to follow her advice...  Mavis writes... 'We've been gardening for wild flowers on Islay for 21 years but rather than introduce non-native species and importing seed from the continent we gather local seed and have progressed from 1.2 acres of bracken,rocks and heather clumps to 204 species. Of course some have come of their own accord once our mowing regime encouraged them. Soon we will be leaving for a new challenge where I plan to follow the same principles. Gardening in this way doesn't produce such a colourful show as the packs of wild seed but we are helping to maintain the local flora.' Thank you, Mavis, so much for this important tip.]


I posted the tulip photo below in my previous post, but I am posting it again because it is current, and helps to show the extent of the area covered by poppies, cornflowers and all the other beauties in the photo above. 

The August 2016 photo below, shows blues, yellows, reds, whites and greens of this garden: what a spread for our pollen-gatherers...

... like this one...

Inspired not only by the riot of colour at Ickworth but also by the BBC Springwatch SOS exhortation to have a small wildflower planter within the garden, we bought ourselves a green trough and have planted three packets (quite large ones) of mixed wildflower seed. I have moved the primroses to another place now, and have filled the trough with soil pretty much up to the top. Small green shoots, reminding me of the first flush of mustard and cress from the days when we planted small seeds on blotting paper and squares of flannel, have already started to appear.

Needless to say, I can hardly wait for the first bud to open, and, if all goes according to plan, for the insects to come flying in.

The blackboard below was at Ickworth last summer, and while our own wildflower trough will be minuscule in comparison with the Ickworth garden, it should help to encourage wildlife into our homepatch.

Do drop a comment if you plan to plant a wildflower 'garden', too...
I plan to give intermittent updates on our green trough.

More woolly than wild?

We had a wonderful time at NT Ickworth with the lambs last weekend...

These tulips in the walled garden mark out the extent of last year's wildflower 'patch'...

... I love tulips, but I also love all the insects that wildflowers attract.

What it is to be cool...

...or cute.

... Oh, and we also saw a stoat, but sadly it was too fast for my camera. A wonderful sighting all the same.