June 2026

June brings us the longest days of the year, but not necessarily the warmest. It takes time for the high summer sunshine quantity to translate into warmer seas and landmasses. There is an inevitable lag. The Atlantic conveyer (Gulf Stream) is our cooling system in the summer, often making coasts cooler than inland. The reverse is true in winter, water from the Gulf of Mexico keeps the sea from freezing and moderates the air temperature over the coast, often preventing frosts when inland areas like Uckfield, Framfield and East Hoathly are freezing. Britain is on a similar latitude (51 – 55° N) to inland Moscow in Russia and Saskatoon in Canada. Both the latter seriously freeze up in winter.

Let us enjoy flaming June! It is the time when most birds and other diurnal animals are breeding, especially insects. Many meadow flowers will be blooming good! Insects will be harvesting nectar from these plants and accidentally transferring male pollen from their flower anthers to the female sticky stigmas of neighbouring close and distant relatives. This sets into motion the development of viable mixed gene seeds in the the plant’s ovary, ready for a later explosion of these seeds into an unsuspecting world. It is this gene mixing that has led to the wonderful natural variety that we now see. This can also be a mixed blessing to us humans. If we are gardeners, we want colourful managed gardens of flowers wherever they come from, like polyanthas, hyacinths, pansies, arums and geraniums. Many of these are exotics originating from other countries, non-native to the British Isles. These can cause problems if they escape into the countryside, hybridising with wildflowers and out-competing them, leading to the truly native plants becoming rare. Or else, they simply colonise large areas of land and become dominant. An example of unintended hybridisation is the Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica) with the British bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta). Hybrids are common where gardens meet wildwood. Examples of unintended colonisation by alien invaders include Japanese knotweed(Reynoutria japonica), which is very difficult to eradicate. Also, horizontal cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis) from the Far East, whose seeds are eaten by birds and pass out in faeces in wild places such as the South Downs where it often thrives. Also, Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) which was once planted next to the River Uck in Buxted, and now dominates downstream riverine habitats all the way to Lewes, including Hempstead meadows Local Nature Reserve in Uckfield. Finally, the bridge forming rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum) which took 14 years to be eliminated from Lake Wood Woodland Trust reserve in Rocks Road, Uckfield. All of these are a problem in Sussex and other parts of Britain. There is, happily, a modern trend for gardeners to plant native meadow plants and seeds in their gardens and to rewild parts of the garden to allow our indigenous flora and fauna to thrive alongside us humans. The rewards can be amazing!