(untitled)

Wild Clary (Salvia vebenaca) in the wildflower meadow at the music school. This is a seeded meadow (before my time) and I imagine it must have been a mix of generalists e.g. Ox-Eye Daisy and chalk specialists like the Clary. Curiously I have noted the absence of S. vebenaca in past years and considered trying to introduce it. And suddenly here it is! Then again the meadow is usually a mass of Ox-Eye Daisies yet they are sparse this year. Wild flowers are tenacious but highly variable in their growth from one year to the next. Weather is key: no doubt the warm dry spring has favoured some species, others less so.