My garden...

We let the bottom half of our garden "go wild", which means I only have to hack it back once a year at the end of August.

Ox-eye daisies, Kidney Vetch, Bird's-Foot Trefoil, Hedge Bedstraw, Narrow-Leaved Plantain are well-established, with Wild Carrot and Black Medick coming along later.  This year a heavy crop of Yellow Rattle has sprung up.  Yellow Rattle is hemiparasitic and lives off the roots of other plants and grasses. It can weaken grasses and clear room for other plants, which in theory should be good.

This summer has seen some interesting orchids spring up...

Man Orchids...

Common Twayblade..

Pyramidal Orchids..

I am told that Man Orchids are quite rare but we have half a dozen or so, though this is the first year we've seen them. I have yet to see them anywhere else around here, but they must be lurking somewhere.  Similarly, I've yet to see this colourful member of the daisy family on my walks around the local countryside...

Fox-and-Cubs (Orange Hawkbit)

In terms of unique occurrences, the chives in the vegetable patch attracted a fresh-looking Dark Green Fritillary, a butterfly I have yet to see anywhere around here other than in my garden...

Dark Green Fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary (underside, showing its signature colouration)

Butterflies I regularly see in my garden (at the right times of year for them) otherwise reflect the local species variety pretty well.  These are:

Small White
Large White
Green-Veined White
Orange Tip
Brimstone
Marbled White
Common Blue
Holly Blue
Speckled Wood
Meadow Brown
Ringlet
Gatekeeper
Peacock
Red Admiral
Comma
Small Tortoiseshell

More occasional visitors include:

White Admiral
Small Copper
Brown Argus
Silver-Washed Fritillary (and now the Dark Green Fritillary)

The occasional Silver-Washed Fritillary or White Admiral come down from the woods to visit a small patch of bramble blossom in my front garden for some reason...

Silver-Washed Fritillary (female)

Silver-Washed Fritillary, showing the signature silver streaks on its underside

Although the cold snap in late February/early March set the emergence of our summer butterflies back by about three weeks, the recent spell of hot weather seems to have accelerated the life-cycles of those that are on the wing.  The White Admirals nectar from bramble, which damages their wings after a while. Even though White Admirals can usually be found on the wing until late August, some are already looking decidedly tatty, as this garden visitor shows...

White Admiral