GOING GREEN – February 2026

Would you believe it? A few of us went on a New Year Plant Hunt on the 3rd January and we found 22 different species of wildflowers in flower! Sally Rankin, Henley’s wildflower specialist, who led us recorded them for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. We were not hunting in fields or green spaces – but along road verges, pathways and walls.

That is one of the reasons our verges and old walls are so important for wildlife. If you have the flowering plants, you get insects and then the other creatures – birds, small mammals and reptiles. That is how a little patch of wildflowers becomes a lifeline for biodiversity – be they dandelions, celandine, yarrow or any other native species. They are all food and habitat for something.

My favourite find of this New Year’s adventure was the Pellitory-of-the-wall that we found growing out of the bridge wall in the Angel on the Bridge’s beer garden. On first sight it seems rather an insignificant plant with tiny flowers but learning its name from Sally, I remembered hearing an Oxford student talking about them being home to some micro-moths. It is strange how giving something a name can change your relationship with it – it has its own identity.

The amazing thing about the Pellitory-on-the-wall is it is the food plant of several rare moths and butterflies and they all have wonderful names. The Bloxworth Snout larvae eat this as well as common nettle. The tiny micro- moth whose larvae burrow into the plant has the fabulous name of Cosmopterix Pulchrimella. Fancy that! The plant is also crucial for the caterpillars of the Red Admiral butterfly. It’s also the food source for the Mother of Pearl moth and the Silver Seven moth and larvae.

So instead of worrying about some of our verges not being mown in the summer and looking ‘untidy’ – why don’t we make friends with our native wildflowers and the life they are supporting?

In January’s Going Green I gave suggestions of places you can visit in the British Isles to see/help our rarest beetles. This month I am going to suggest a way some of you might be able to help biodiversity closer to home. We are looking for Plant Parents and Plant Fosterers. Let me explain.

Greener Henley in partnership with Henley Town Council and the Henley Standard are boosting our Nature Squared campaign. We are encouraging as many people as possible to grow a metre square of wildflowers in their gardens, on their balconies, at their place of work, in the school yard any spare scrap of land. This is to make small pockets of food and habitat to help with the dramatic loss in biodiversity we are experiencing here in Britain. Together they will make a patchwork of nature stepping-stones across the town and surrounding area. There will be more publicity about Nature Squared in the following weeks and how you can get involved.

Up to now, Nature Squared supporters have sown seeds with varying success. However, some people do not find growing plants from seeds easy so we want to provide the plants that will have the greatest impact for our native pollinators and other insects.

We have the seeds but we are now looking for the kind gardeners who will be Plant Parents and sow the seeds bringing them on to small plants. We wouldn’t expect them to look after about 100 plants of say musk mallow, as they would probably need the space for their own veg etc. That’s where the Plant Fosterers come in – people with space in their gardens to foster the young potted plants until they are ready for distribution.

The plan is to hold plant swaps, plant parties, talks, giveaways and provide non-gardeners with the boost they need to make their own urban ‘nectar cafes’. Hopefully we will also have a great selection for the Nature Squared stall at the Big Green Festival on June 6th .

So if you fancy doing some unusual volunteering this year, please be a Plant Parent or Plant Fosterer and contact me by email on [email protected] .

If playing with plants isn’t really your thing, we are also looking for volunteers as Gallery Assistants at the Old Fire Station Gallery in May. Greener Henley organises an annual Environmental Science Challenge for Schools in the area. There is a different theme each year – this year it is about noticing the nature around us. We always try to display all the work submitted by schools in a pubic exhibition. This year we are fortunate enough to have the Old Fire Station Gallery from the 13 th to the 19 th May and hope to be open daily for 5 days from 11 to 5, and a bit longer on the Saturday.

We are looking for some lovely people to be on a rota to ‘mind the exhibition’ during its opening hours. If you could spare a couple of hours (possibly with a friend) to help us, we would be so grateful. I’m sure you will enjoy looking at what our youngsters produce – we always do. Please contact me at [email protected] with your phone number and I will get back to you.

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Last year was not a great year for swifts. There were a few in the town, but not the same number as in previous years. Those that did come and nest didn’t appear to stay for long and probably only had one brood. There were very sad reports of swifts dropping dead in Spain, they believe from the extreme heat they had in Europe last summer.

We would like to update the RSPB Swift Mapper of Henley. We know where many of the swifts nest in the town, and where swift boxes have been put up to help them, but not all. If you know of a nesting site that swifts return to every year, please could you let us know so we can add it to the map. [email protected]

If you know where swift boxes are too, even if they have not been occupied to date, please let us know. Once they arrive in April we will also be looking out for their screaming parties to mark them on the map – knowing numbers would be very useful too.

Finally, if you have had swifts nesting and you are planning on having some work done on your roof, please do not block off access to their nests. They fly thousands of miles without stopping to reach the same nest site. If their access or nest has been destroyed, it is very cruel and is one reason for the decline in this amazing bird. Just imagine coming back from a trip to visit your long lost cousin in Australia, and finding that someone has demolished your house!

If you are doing any building work and think it would be a good place for swifts, please consider putting in a swift brick or external swift nest box. Henley Swifts Support group can give you some friendly advice at the address above.