buttercups

Manchester wildflowers

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Here in the middle of Manchester you look for every scrap of nature – and it can flourish in the most unexpected places.

A stone’s throw away from my Castlefield home is a vast, very busy interchange where major traffic routes meet.

One central section has burst into life with yellow, white and pink wildflowers – a stunning show bringing nature alongside a stark man-made creation.

Less than a mile away is a rust-coloured branch of a self-storage company where alium flourishes, while cow parsley grows undisturbed on an area of the canal towpath. 

We need wilderness more than ever, especially in our urban centres. Why mow it down for the sake of neatness? Please share your thoughts on this below

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Regal garden

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Garden wall

This is a London backyard to savour. The gardens of Eltham Palace are a sublime fit for a house combining medieval and Art Deco majesty. You can explore formal lawns, water features and meadow-lined paths. And in early summer, the herb beds and borders are bristling with delicious blooms. It’s a haven for macro photography and the capture of the vibrant colours of nature. Come and take a stroll…

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A breath of wind

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The meadows are bursting with life. The grass is shooting up and is studded with buttercups, clover and clouds of cow parsley. They’re less prevalent in urban west London, so I found mine in the grounds of Eltham Palace, tucked away in the city’s south-east corner.

This involved a lot of lying in the grass and lengthening the exposure as much as possible to catch the grasses as a breath of wind-swept them into motion. I also tried some deliberate off focus to emulate the mood of a burgeoning summer.

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Hope and decay

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A final selection from what was a very fruitful and enjoyable photographic trip to Osterley Park in west London.

These shots seem to sum up two extremes. There is the early summer joy of woodland growth and meadowland flowers. But the grounds also revealed weariness and decay, including the defiant but jagged remains of trees and their gnarled bark.

The one human capture encapsulates both these aspects – a mature couple rest at the stump of a tree, while there is a sense that they are looking forward to the rest of their walk with energy and vigour.

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Golden oldies

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Golden churn

The British crawl into summer is a tentative one as usual, with Atlantic weather systems bringing heavy cloud and rain sweeping across our island. 

But there has been – and will be – sunshine and long days. With it comes carpets of wild flowers, golden favourites that are humble, plentiful and beautiful.

Cascades of buttercups, plump pillows of dandelions lead the pack. Can they really tell if you’re a fan of butter? Do they make you wet the bed? I doubt it. But well worth lying in the grass to photograph.

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