Cow Parsley's lace-like flowerheads are noticeable along hedgerows and roadside verges in May
Nature on our doorsteps: Wildflowers in early summer hedgerows
Rosaleen Dwyer is the County Heritage Officer at South Dublin County Council – every week she gives us an insight into the natural heritage around us and the beautiful biodiversity of the plants and creatures.
Early summer is a time of rapid growth and flowering.
Soil temperatures have been rising since springtime and moisture levels in the ground are usually high.
These are the right conditions for seeds to quickly germinate and send up new shoots.
This rapid growth is best seen wherever a good wide margin of uncut grass is allowed to grow at the base of hedgerows,
The most obvious of these hedgerow plants is Cow Parsley.
It can grow over a metre tall, and in early May its frothy white, lace-like flowerheads can turn the edges of hedgerows and shady roadsides white.
Where Cow Parsley is not so dense, other wildflowers can be abundant.
White Stitchwort, purple Bush Vetch, and yellow Buttercups fill the space at the base of the May hedgerow
These include the lovely white, star-like Stitchwort and the purple-blue Vetches.
Both of these plants have straggly stems that do not support the plant very well. This, however, is an advantage in the hedgerow margin where the grasses grow very quickly.
Stitchwort and Vetch need to keep pace with the grasses so that their flowers are not left behind in the shade where insects cannot see them.
It would take too long for these wildflowers to grow stout, sturdy stems to reach above the fast-growing grasses.
Instead, the flowers put their energy into growing very quickly, and they make do with weak and sprawling stems.
The Vetches also have curly tendrils at the end of their leaf stems which twine around the grasses, making sure that the flowers are pulled up into the light as the grasses grow.
Stitchwort simply leans against the grasses and other plants around it for support.
As its neighbours grow upwards, Stitchwort is physically supported and carried along by them, allowing it to present its white flowers out into the sunlight.
Yellow Buttercups will also grow tall quite quickly, while Red Clover, blue Speedwell, and Daisies do well in the shorter grasses at the margin’s edge.
This abundance of flowers in May supports many insects which, in turn, help feed bats and young chicks developing in the nest.
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