GREENWOOD
Nature and the neighbourhood
Robin’s Pin Cushion
Posted on July 24, 2022
A Robin’s Pin Cushion, otherwise known as a Bedeguar Gall, is caused when a minute gall wasp (Diplolepis rosae of the Family Cynipidae) lays its eggs in a wild rose, usually in the leaves. The plant reacts in this characteristic way to the insertion of the egg, and the response it is thought to provide more food and a better environment in which the larvae can develop when the eggs hatch out. The rose itself still flourishes, and its survival is not affected by the formation of these galls. The dog rose on which I found these brightly coloured specimens is beside one of the wooden benches that are placed around the cricket pitch in the village.
Dog Roses
Posted on June 13, 2021
There is something special about Dog Roses. Somehow it seems a special treat to see them in the hedgerows. Their pale pink petals so fragile, tender and ephemeral, their colour changing with the degree of light and shade. Dog roses are blooming this week in the village playing field (Olympic Park), the Charlton Down Nature Reserve, and the place I call the ‘Meadow’ on the north side of Charlton Down – to name just a few of the easily accessible spots where you can enjoy them. In these locations there are only isolated rose bushes but sometimes the whole hedgerow is adorned with them; I have included some pictures like this from a walk on Charminster Down taken several years ago.
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