The 'temporary' meadow, which I am making by leaving the lawn of my front garden uncut for six weeks or so, is beginning to bloom.
Buttercups in the temporary meadow
I last cut this grass on 10 May, so it has had a couple of weeks to grow. I was aware that there were a lot of creeping buttercups (
Ranunculus repens) in the lawn, but I was surprised to find that there is also a good number of meadow buttercups (
Ranunculus acris). You may be able to see that I'm maintaining a cut path through the lawn. Apart from giving better access to the 'meadow', this also helps to reduce the impression that the grass has just been abandoned!
Meadow buttercups have a much more upright habit than creeping buttercups and I'm surprised that they have lasted so long in a lawn which, until now, I have kept quite closely cut. They are also much less invasive and, with their deeply dissected leaves and upright posture, a generally more attractive species to my eye.
