The Cuckoo Flower (Lady's Smock) is concentrated in the wetter areas of the field - the distribution coincides almost exactly the places in which the rush is starting to grow. Neither of these plants has been introduced, this is just the natural evolution of the wildflower meadow as we return it to poorer soil by cutting in early summer.
There is also a change in the nature of the grass. In previous years there has been an obvious difference between the area that was ploughed and reseeded and the area that originally had finer grass and so was left intact. The seeded area has always had a greater growth of grass, probably due to the nutrients stirred up by the plough. This year there is no very much distinction between the areas, so I hope that this is the result of taking off the grass each year, which over 15 years has decreased the nutrient content of the sward.
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