BOGBEAN

I have a thing about wetlands. It’s something about their impenetrability and how to cross them safely you have to spend time getting to know them. And the contrast between their Wuthering Heights-esque bleak beauty in the winter and their hazy allure in the summer. And how the mist hangs over them at dawn or after a storm, and how their most beautiful secrets are so often out of view, hidden among the reeds. I’m not surprised that they’re the home of bogbean, which must be one of the most bizarre but exquisite wildflowers in the UK. 

Plantlife describes bogbean as ‘a flower of dark, moorland waters’, which seems suitably poetic. These pictures were taken in the more prosaic setting of the pond next to my office, whose edges are garlanded with the hairy white flowers around this time of the year. It’s rather lovely to go and sit by them on the odd occasion when I’m actually early- once you get your eye in it’s common to see tiny beetles and hoverflies taking advantage of their nectar. Apparently they’re even more impressive through a hand lens, so I’ll be eagerly waiting for the ones closer to the edges to come into bloom for a closer look. Until then, the macro lens seems to be doing an excellent job of detailing their loveliness.