An Invading Plant

Early in March, I took a walk to Old Hall Copse at Woking Palace to see if the daffodils were in flower. They were indeed flowering and very beautiful. But then my companion asked "What's all that red over there?" I turned to look and knew the answer straight away, the Palace Moat had been invaded by the Fairy Fern also called Water Fern, Azolla filiculoides. This water plant turns bright red under environmental stress, it doesn't much like the cold and we'd had snow not long before.

Azolla filiculoides, March 2018

Oak Currant Gall - Neuroterus quercusbaccarum - Oak Apple Day

Looks like red currants growing on an Oak Tree? No, it's the Oak Currant Gall, created by Neuroterus quercusbaccarum, a small wasp of the Cynipidae family.

Oak Currant Gall, Woking Palace 12th May 2014

Woking Palace Weekend, May 2014

It was windy and sometimes rainy at Woking Palace for the May weekend Open Days. This didn't deter the visitors who were able to take a guided tour and learn about the history of the site. The Vault was open, laid out with a Tudor feast lit by candlelight, and finds from the archeological excavations were on show. Surrey Wildlife Trust were also on hand to explain their work.
Visitors were offered a taste of my honey, to talk about bees and we wondered how the honey might have tasted when King Henry VIII visited in days gone by.

Woking Palace Open Day - Honey Tasting

My thanks to the Friends of Woking Palace for letting me be part of this excellent event and for keeping the tents firmly attached to the ground.

Woking Palace meadows in flood

The River Wey at Old Woking Palace is brim full.

Woking Palace Open Day, May 2013

Bee display at Woking Palace