Last winter I had planned to write in summer about the roadsides flowering abundantly by the bicycle routes we frequently take. Meanwhile, June is here, but the roadsides along the bicycle routes are bare, grass and vegetation cut short. Some flowers show here and there, but it is nothing compared to how it was last year or the year before. That’s a pity because last year the roadsides were blue and yellow during the first weeks of June, blue because of the flowers of Viper’s Bugloss and yellow because of several yellow flowers. Then in the second half of June, the roadsides were red because of the poppies. A festive sight!
Unfortunately, there are hardly any flowers on the roadsides this year. At first, I thought a mowing machine might have caused the bare roadsides early in June, but then I remembered that I had seen a small flock of about 10 sheep along the bicycle routes earlier this year. The sheep are kept there to keep the vegetation open, obviously quite effectively so. They eat all plants before a flower appears. But probably they’re eating herbs and flowers elsewhere now, I haven’t seen them recently.
Early June 2022
Yesterday we took the same route again and I saw that flowers are returning. On several spots, I saw Viper’s Bugloss, and here and there some Poppies. Furthermore yellow flowers of St. John’s wort, and evening primrose. I expect the festivity of the summer roadsides is coming back.
Late June 2022