Every Plant Has Its Place

The wildflower planting team

Thanks to Becky Williams, Wilder Lives Officer from Cheshire Wildlife Trust, New Ferry Butterfly Park was donated five hundred wildflower plugs comprising of a mix of eight species. Each species needed to be planted in distinct locations in the park to match the plants natural preferences to give them the greatest chance of surviving.

Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil is used as a larval food plant by the Dingy Skipper and occasionally by the Common Blue butterflies and these were planted in the sunken bath wetland and around the pond. So, too was the damp loving Common Fleabane, a nectar source used impressively by sixteen butterfly species found at the park and is the favourite nectar source of the Small Copper butterfly.

Yan making holes for the wild flower plugs - only 500 more to go!

Selfheal is a nectar source for three species of the park’s butterflies and was planted in the pondside grassland and railway ballast area as both these areas have a short sward height. Red campion, a nectar source for three species found at the park, was planted next to the hedgerow adjacent to the pond and hopefully will be a fruitful source of nectar for the Orange Tip butterfly.  The hawkbits are a nectar source for seven butterfly species at the park; the autumn hawkbit was planted in the acid grassland and the sparce railway sidings whilst the rough hawkbit was planted in the rapidly developing wildflower grassland in Charlie’s Field. The lesser knapweed is a nectar source for seven species of butterfly found at the park was also planted in Charlie’s Field.

Yan working with a Liverpool John Moores University student 

Yan, Liverpool John Moores University Conservation Society and our inhouse volunteers got plug planting at the October workday. Yan worked efficiently using a bulb planter with a spade handle on it creating the perfect hole, pulling the plug of soil out and leaving the plug next to the hole as a marker so the next volunteer could plant and use the soil from the extracted plug to surround the freshly planted plant to firm it up. The areas have been marked out with bamboo canes so they will not be mown this autumn. Thanks to Yan for leading the planting team.

Bamboo canes protecting the plug plants 

Additional planting took place on the damp clay area opposite Mel’s Garden so creating a contrast of cultivated garden plants and wildflower area. We hope these plugs plants will survive and increase the capacity of the park to host large numbers of butterflies and make the butterfly transect recording even more of a delight for Yan and Charles, ensuring a greater butterfly experience for our visitors.

Thank you to Cheshire Wildlife Trust for the plants!

Paul Loughnane, Reserve Manager, New Ferry Butterfly Park

An Amazing Apple Afternoon

Some of the apples on display at Apple Afternoon at the Butterfly Park.
Photo: Aidan Mangan

On Sunday 12th October we celebrated locally grown apples with our third New Ferry Butterfly Park Apple Afternoon.

Even more people came this year (estimate 60 - 70) - thank you to everyone who visited and our wonderful volunteers who make it possible to hold such an event.

Visitors to the Apple Afternoon. Photo: Aidan Mangan

The first Apple Day was organised on 21st October 1990 by Common Ground to celebrate apples and orchards. Many traditional orchards were being dug up and the country became reliant on imported apples, despite about 3,000 apple varieties having been grown in the UK. The aim was to bring the wide variety of local apples to the attention of the public.

A history of apples and Apple Day

At our event we have a traditional wooden apple press and other equipment. Apples are chopped, minced then put into the press. Several people collected apples for juicing and volunteers, including some Friends of Dibbinsdale, manned the apple press. Visitors could help with the juicing process, turn the handle and taste freshly pressed juice. Many people took some juice away with them.

Chopping apples, ready to be minced up and pressed.

Turning the handle on the apple press to make the juice flow

We had 28 varieties of apples picked from orchards at Brimstage, Upton Hall School and Ness Gardens plus varieties from some of our volunteer’s gardens. We are grateful for all these donations.

The display of locally grown apples on the tasting table

What wonderful names these old varieties have - some dating back to the 17th century. Some like Peasgood’s Nonsuch (one of my favourite names) are named after the person who grew them. This one was grown in the 1850s by Mrs Peasgood. Scrumptious is presumably named due to its taste. The name of Red Love apple denotes the colour of its skin and its flesh too, and was a great favourite with the children who tasted it. A full list of the varieties we had for display and tasting is given below.

The homeland of domestic apples lies in the fruit forests of Kazakhstan and surrounding regions. Apples belong to the genus Malus. Brimstage Orchard has a Siberian crab apple, Malus baccata. It is thought that breeding from these sorts of apples and selection over many centuries led to the many varieties of apple we can grow today. Apples will not breed true from seed, fruit from offspring may be better or worse than from their parent tree. Humans would choose the best to keep. Another problem is that apples do not grow well from cuttings and need to be grafted on to a rootstock to grow on. Just think of all the work that has preceded the development of the next apple you bite into.

Siberian crab apple Malus baccata, from Brimstage Orchard

Linda Higginbottom

New Ferry Butterfly Park Volunteer Coordinator



Apples on display

Annie Eiizabeth
Arthur Barnes
Blenheim Orange
Bramley
Catshead
Charles Ross
Cox’s Orange Pippin
Crawley Beauty
Discovery
Eccleston Pippin
Egremont Russett
Fiesta
Golden Noble
Grenadier
Herefordshire Russett
James Grieve
Jupiter
Lord Clyde
Lord Derby
Lord Lambourne
Millicent Barnes
Red Falstaff
Peasgood’s Nonsuch
Red Love
Scrumptious
Spartan
St Edmund’s Pippin
Worcester Pearmain

Recorders at Red Rocks

Recorders from Wirral Wildlife and the Cheshire branch of
Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland at Red Rocks

Wirral Wildlife’s recording team have been busy all summer recording wildlife - mostly plants and fungi, with some insects and other animals where we have the knowledge! 

The photo above shows our largest event - a joint meeting with the Cheshire branch of Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) at Red Rocks nature reserve. Plenty of expert botanists were on hand to instruct our newer recorders, and a large reserve to explore. Most places have to be done with much smaller groups.

This year's sites have included Thornton Wood in Dibbinsdale, Chester Zoo nature reserve, continuing work on Prenton Dell Claypit, and Thurstaston Common monitoring.

Most plants are moving into winter state now, and most invertebrates are in hibernation, so the group are busy writing up the records and putting them to use in management plans and guidance to land managers. However, anyone who wants to get out and about - our colleagues the birders will be busy all winter counting the thousands of birds on our estuaries. They always welcome new people.