‘I love it. It’s hope’: the mysterious self-willed wildflower meadow that seeded itself

Farmer Derek Sayer let a boggy field run wild and just one annual hay-cut has led to remarkable biodiversity Tucked away on a country lane, a small field bursts with yellow and pink flowers. Quail and whitethroats call from the thick hedges and the plants, including common centaury, yellow rattle and marsh and common spotted orchids, bounce with hoverflies and butterflies. More than 150 plant species have been recorded on Sayer’s Old Meadow, in north Norfolk, England, which is remarkable when...

By Patrick Barkham