Viper's Bugloss Tide Mills 5 8 2024

I first noticed these purple fields as I passed by on a train. This a low-lying area, between the sea and the South Downs. Crops of maize and linseed have been grown there in past years. Viper's Bugloss is not an obvious cash crop. Indeed in some states in the USA it is classified as 'invasive'. It is, however, good for encouraging the proliferation of pollinators. When I pondered the reason for this planting, on another website, to which I subscribe, it was suggested that it may be as a soil improvement agent as part of a crop rotation trial, of which there are a number around the UK, my informant tells me.