The careless or deliberate destruction of our wild flowers and their habitats. So many are exterminated in the arable fields of the corn-growing areas where no hedges are left for them to hide in. No poppy must stain the golden miles of corn, nor buttercup mark the monoculture of the grasslands.

It is with mixed feelings of pleasure, sadness and envy that we see the colourful meadows of France and other European countries where all our banished flowers flourish abundantly. These sweet-smelling 'weeds' provide mineral-rich hay which is sufficient for smaller European herds of cows, whereas in Britain the intensive system of dairy farming demands more and more fields to grow food for cattle until we have run out of countryside for wild flowers to flourish in.

The traditional meadows with their unique flora Green-winged Orchids and Adderstongues, Cowslips, Salad Burnet and Scabious are now few and far between, although many are protected areas. The modern farmer values them little because he only wants the heavily fertilized and sprayed crop of grass produced by monoculture. He ploughs up these old fields his forebears so carefully nurtured over the centuries and destroys the hedgerows in which any remaining plant may survive.

We are losing many ancient acres and their equally valuable and ancient flora in this way and once gone they can never be re-created. These are some of the reasons which compel me to seek out and paint our wild flowers.