A stroll around the grounds brings the sweet, heady scent of the flowering lime trees, delicate fragrance of the honeysuckle and mock orange or the luxuriant fragrance of the lilac and rock rose.
Out in the meadows early in the summer it’s looking like being a bumper year for the parasitic yellow rattle, which parasitizes the grass. There is also lots of smooth leaved hawksbeard and birdsfoot trefoil.
We are delighted to have 2 species of orchids in the parkland at Croome. We have not planted them or sown seed, so they must have been brought in on the wind or via bird droppings.
Pyramidal orchid, Anacamptis pyramidalis
The pyramidal orchid grows in a range of habitats including chalk grasslands, coastal regions, scrub, road verges, abandoned quarries and railway embankments. Its common name comes from the bright pink, pyramid-shaped cluster of flowers. It flowers in June and July.