Late Spring on Jubilee Meadow
28th June 2026 Newsletter
Action Packed Spring on Jubilee Meadow
Early summer is when the Meadow is looking at its best. This year the annuals put on a fine display of poppies, cornflowers, daisies and corncockle.
Ed Cross helping our Chairman, Patricia, and Trustee, Robert, to identify the wild flowers during his inspection visit.
Annual Inspections
Early June is the time when we ask our tree and wildflower experts, Ed Cross from Abbey Farm and Jules Baird from Barcham Trees to come and have a look and tell us how we are doing.
Ed Cross was delighted with the progress on the meadow – both, the annuals, and the perennials are doing better than expected with a large number of species now well established. We sowed 65 varieties of perennial wildflower and they are all doing well. It was encouraging to see good numbers of yellow rattle, essential in a good meadow, and corncockle, now quite a rarity, doing so well.
Jules’ report on the trees was slightly less optimistic. The extremely dry Spring, coupled with the persistent strong westerly winds sweeping across the meadow, has caused distress to a few of the trees. We have an enthusiastic team of volunteers who have been watering the trees since March, but it is quite a battle .
The expert opinion is that the more established trees will all survive, but we may lose a few of the more recently planted ones. If so, we will replace them in the winter.
Jules Baird from Barcham Trees examining one of the distressed trees on the western boundary.
Kestrels breed successfully!
We are grateful to Simon Dudhill of The Hawk & Owl Trust who came and ringed our three young kestrels which occupied the owl nest box. The young are now fledged but can still be seen around the meadow. What a privilege it is to have a pair of kestrels nesting on the meadow.
This is yellow rattle, an essential component of any successful wildflower meadow. It is a grass parasite and helps to keep the growth of grasses under control so they don’t dominate the wildflowers.
Volunteers Welcome!
We are lucky to have a small band of keen volunteers, but there is always room for more, particularly at this busy time of the year. The ragwort is beginning to grow, and will soon need pulling out! If you would like to join in the fun, even on an occasional basis, just contact us on the address below and we will be in touch.