however, does not appear to have produce a single acorn throughout the Park!!!! Our display was 

 well received and lasted for 5 weeks. 



The early autumn of 2012 did not produce a great display of Fungi. Even so, Chris did manage to 

 find a reasonable supply of Oyster Mushrooms for his pantry, and field mushrooms were found in the 

 Pheasant Park. There was a late flush of Fungi in the woodland but last year's display of Giant 

 Puffballs in the Railway Park was not repeated. On the 7"^ November walk a specimen of the 

 Porcelain Mushroom (Oudemansiella mucida) was noted on the old Beech tree to the right of the 

 Start of Walks point and a very large Oyster mushroom was found on the last walk in December in 

 the top wood - but far too ripe to eat! 



Our walks proved popular this year, and we were asked by the National Trust to extend them into 

 December. Winter migrant birds began to appear in November and we soon had significant numbers 

 of Redwings and a few Fieldfares. Our last walk produced an amusing sighting of a very wet Buzzard. 

 It was initially perched tightly against the trunk of a Cedar in the Park, sheltering from heavy rain. 

 Disturbed by a photograph-seeking walker, it flew only a few yards onto the ground, and then a few 

 yards further into one of the Lime trees. It really didn't want to fly anywhere!! 



This walk also had Blackbirds bathing in the puddles on the woodland path and Redwings flying down 

 from eating the Hawthorn berries for a drink and a wash in the small stream running down the path 

 to the South side of the Railway Park. 

 Water will be the enduring memory of 2012. 



EXTENDING THE FLORA OF BERKSHIRE? 

 OR: "WILD" FLOWERS AT 29 DOWNSHIRE SQUARE, READING 



Chris Bucke 



In "The Flora of Berkshire" Michael Crawley mentions the desirability but impracticality of recording plant 

 species that occur "wild", i.e. fending for themselves, in private gardens. This article attempts to list such 

 species in a suburban garden close to the centre of Reading. 



I have tended the garden of 29 Downshire Square since March 1979. The area of the plot including the 

 bungalow is about one-third of an acre. The soil is plateau gravel that was very poor in 1 979 but has 

 improved in texture over the decades. Even so, in dry conditions the best way of describing the soil is 

 "dust with flints". The pH is about neutral but there is chalk beneath the surface. I am a plantsman who 

 gains great pleasure from propagating species new to me from seed, purchased or collected from the 

 wild. I am not deterred by having no idea how some species might perform. As a result I attempt to grow 

 far too many species for the space available so the garden is not stylish, more Hyde than Jekyll. It does 

 not suffer from the attentions of herbivores such as deer or rabbits: squirrels contribute acorns and 

 walnuts. In common with many gardeners I have the dilemma between keeping the garden neat and 

 tidy and retaining seed heads as winter food for birds. The latter option prevails in most years. If the 

 garden were abandoned for a couple of years it would be dominated by Ivy and Brambles. 



When I arrived the garden had been neglected for several years. There were some routine perennials, 

 phlox, Michaelmas daisies, golden rods, many aquilegias and some bulbs, plus a lot of poor lawn, much 

 of which has been removed. A surprise was the appearance in the first spring of the attractive blue 

 blowers of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Trachystemon orientalis) which I had not seen before. This seeds 

 itself around vigorously and has to be controlled. I have given away specimens with the instmctions 

 "plant and stand clear". It comes in two forms, the rarer lacking the red pigment. It became apparent 

 that the garden had been woodland at some time in the past: Celandines appeared in large numbers 

 (they are the bulbous form Ranunculus ficaha subsp. bulbifer), as did Wood Avens (Geum urbanum), 

 Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum,) both pink and white-flowered forms, and Enchanter's Nightshade 

 (Circaea lutetiana). All persist in spite of my best efforts to eliminate them but I am now aided in 

 controlling the Celandines by the annoyingly large population of wood pigeons that find them good to 

 eat so I do not have the displays of bloom that occurred years ago. A species indigenous to the garden 



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