In his latest weekly newsletter, Ventnor Town Council’s clerk, David Bartlett, reveals there’s been a proliferation of a very rare wild flower at Salisbury Gardens.
Wild Clary (aka salvia verbenaca) produces a purple flower that is very attractive to bees and other pollinators. According to the Wild Seed Website, it is often found in churchyards, because of the medieval practice of sowing it on graves.
Carefully preserving scarce species
The VTC’s grounds maintenance team, John O’Conner, were informed and avoided strimming the area, “with a view to carefully preserving this scarce species”.
David Bartlett says,
“As the flowers die back, the seed will form ready for next year; the whole lifecycle of the wild clary will have completed and thereafter this area will be cut.”
Flower Fairy photo gallery
Lesley Brown, aka the Ventnor Flower Fairy, has kindly shared some photos of the clary when it was in flower.
Click on the images to see larger versions
Images: © Ventnor Flower Fairy
