Rare plants enjoy purple patch
Patricipation in an environmental stewardship scheme has led one farmer to plant a grand display of viper's bugloss which is an excellent source of nectar and pollen


Carpets of purple viper's bugloss and corn marigold, both rare arable plants, light up the landscape on a farm near Land's End, west Cornwall. The display is the result of farmer Adrian Thomas's participation in a Natural England Higher Level Environment Stewardship Scheme, in which areas of farmland were left fallow and springsown cereal crops managed with low nitrogen inputs and without artificial herbicides and pesticides.
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The result is a magnificent and environmentally beneficial display-purple viper's bugloss is an excellent source of nectar and pollen that's only found in a few places in the UK.
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