• ABOUT
  • BIRDING 2018
  • Birding 2019
  • BLOG POSTS
  • Butterflies 2018
  • Resources

earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

earthstar

Category Archives: flowers

Holly flowers

24 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, plants, trees

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British trees, Holly, Holly flowers, Ilex aquifolium, male Holly flowers, winter flowers

Holly flowers are tiny, tucked away in the crooks of branches, inconspicuous behind the mass of glossy evergreen leaves. And that’s my excuse for not having noticed them until quite recently.

210124 holly flowers (1)

I’ve since read that Holly (Ilex aquifolium) is dioecious, which, if you’ve been following this blog for a while, you might remember from my March 2020 post, Wild word : dioecious, means that Holly’s male and female flowers occur on separate trees. I think the flowers I found are male, as the female flowers have small green spheres in their centres, which, if pollinated, would grow in to the red berries we all associate with the Holly tree.

210124 holly flowers (2)
210124 holly flowers (3)
210124 holly flowers (5)
210124 holly flowers (4)

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Midwinter wildflowers

17 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers, winter

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British wildflowers, midwinter wildflowers, wildflowers in bloom, winter colour, winter wildflowers

Nature’s resilience amazes me! It’s the middle of winter, we’ve had some very hard frosts and really chilly days as well as torrential rain, yet I’ve still been able to find 25 species of wildflower in bloom this week.

These heroes are Alexanders, Bramble, a garden-escapee Campanula species, Creeping buttercup, Daisy, Dandelion, Field speedwell, Gorse, Groundsel, Herb Robert, Hogweed, Ivy-leaved toadflax, Lesser celandine, Mayweed species, Meadow buttercup, Nipplewort, Oxeye daisy, Primrose, Ragwort, Red valerian, Shepherd’s purse, Smooth sow-thistle, Sweet violet, Wild radish, and Winter heliotrope.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Incredible Ivy

10 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, leaves, plants, winter

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Hedera helix, ivy, ivy berries, ivy flowers

I’m not sure I can subscribe to the ancient concept that wearing a wreath of ivy leaves around my head would stop me getting drunk but the leaves are certainly amazing and incredibly diverse in shape, form and colour. Juvenile leaves have between 3 and 5 lobes, while mature leaves have no lobes and can be shaped both like ovals and hearts.

210110 ivy leaf (1)
210110 ivy leaf (2)
210110 ivy leaf (3)
210110 ivy leaf (4)
210110 ivy leaf (5)
210110 ivy leaf (6)

And then there are the flowers, in bloom from September through to November and a source of food for more than 50 insect species, and the subsequent berries, ripe from November to January – or, until the berry-loving winter thrushes, finches, woodpigeons and other hungry birds gobble them all up. What an incredible plant ivy is!

210110 ivy flowers and berries (1)
210110 ivy flowers and berries (2)
210110 ivy flowers and berries (3)
210110 ivy flowers and berries (4)

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

New Year’s Plant Hunt

03 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, plants, wildflowers, winter

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

#WildflowerHour, British wildflowers, New Year Plant Hunt, winter wildflowers

The New Year Plant Hunt is happening again this year, from 1 to 4 January, but participants must, of course, stick to the Covid-19 restrictions in their areas. (In case you’re new to the idea of the Plant Hunt, all the details are on the BSBI website here.) I am taking part, of course, and, as a practice run, I used my meander around local streets and countryside footpaths on New Year’s Eve to see what I could find. It was very chilly, as you’ll see from the ice crystals still on a couple of the flowers, but I was very pleased to find 14 plants still in bloom: Alexanders, Bramble, Common vetch, Daisy, Dandelion, Gorse, Groundsel, Ivy, Knapweed, Primrose, Red clover, Red valerian, Shepherd’s purse, and Winter heliotrope.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

359/366 Winter white

24 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by sconzani in animals, birds, flowers, fungi, lichen, winter

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

the colour white, white in nature, white wildflowers

With no chance of a white Christmas for me, I thought I’d share some of Nature’s whiteness instead.

201224 1 snowberry
201224 2 cow
201224 3 oxeye daisy
201224 4 cat
201224 5 bindweed
201224 6 goat's-beard
201224 7 mute swan
201224 8 snowman
201224 9 sheep
201224 10 Honey fungus
201224 11 horse
201224 12 yarrow
201224 13 lichen
201224 14 White Spindles
201224 15 white campion

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

306/366 Anti-gloom

01 Sunday Nov 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, flowers, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

British wildflowers, yellow wildflowers

I’ve been feeling the need for bright cheery sunshine yellow this week, to combat the dull weather, the short days, and the almost constant doom and gloom in the news, and the wildflowers have provided it. These are Black medick, a Dandelion species, Meadow buttercup, Nipplewort (actually photographed in sunshine!), Ragwort, and Yellow-wort.

201101 black meddick
201101 dandelion
201101 meadow buttercup
201101 nipplewort
201101 ragwort
201101 yellow-wort

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

222/366 Damp feet

09 Sunday Aug 2020

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, plants, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

British wildflowers, Common restharrow, Marsh woundwort, Purple loosestrife, wildflower

It’s Sunday – I think we need some wildflowers, and this week we have three plants that are all partial to living with damp feet, all with flowers in the pink-purple colour range.

200809 marsh woundwort (1)
200809 marsh woundwort (2)

200809 marsh woundwort (3)

Marsh woundwort (Stachys palustris)
As its common name implies, this wildflower thrives in locations where its roots can keep damp: near lakes and rivers, ponds and bogs. Its scientific name also refers to this: palustris means ‘of swamps’, while Stachys means ‘spike of flowers’, which is exactly what this lovely wildflower exhibits. And, of course, all the ‘woundworts’ were used extensively by herbalists, in this case, as an ointment to aid aching joints and as a dressing to help heal cuts and other wounds.

200809 purple loosestrife

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
Here’s another widespread plant of marshes and riversides, and that’s exactly where I found this example, alongside the River Ely in Cardiff. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get any closer for better photos of the individual flowers. In Flora Britannica, Richard Mabey gives this explanation for this plant’s intriguing name: ‘“Loose-strife” is a literal translation of the Greek name for the plants, which in classical times was believed to be so powerful “that if placed on the yoke of inharmonious oxen, [it] will restrain their quarrelling”.’

200809 mint (1)
200809 mint (2)
200809 mint (3)

200809 mint (4)

Water mint (Mentha aquatica)
And here’s another plant that prefers living with damp, not necessarily wet feet. Once again, this wildflower’s name tells the story: ‘Water’ and ‘aquatica’; and you only have to rub the leaves to release the delicious minty aroma, which is so refreshing. Insects love it too, as you can see from the hoverfly, butterfly and bee in the photos above.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

207/366 At home in the bindweed

25 Saturday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in flowers, molluscs, nature, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bindweed flower, slugs, slugs in bindweed flowers

I had to chuckle during this morning’s brief stomp between bouts of heavy rain. The local slugs, which I thought would be at home in such conditions, sliding on the grass, slithering over leaves, were more literally ‘at home’, sheltering in the deep flower cups of bindweed.

200725 slugs in bindweed (1)200725 slugs in bindweed (2)200725 slugs in bindweed (3)

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

198/366 Sneezewort

16 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Achillea ptarmica, British wildflowers, Sneezeweed, Sneezewort, wildflower

Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica) is not a wildflower I see very often so I was delighted to find a few plants of it blooming in a local meadow during yesterday’s wander.

200716 sneezewort (1)

The First Nature website explains its scientific name: Achillea ‘stems from the belief that Achilles used flowers of this genus to cure his soldiers’ wounds; ptarmica … comes from the Greek and means to cause a sneeze’. And, as well as Sneezewort, it has a host of other wonderful common names, including Sneezeweed, Bastard pellitory, Fair-maid-of-France, and Goose tongue.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

194/366 Watching, waiting

12 Sunday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

British orchids, Broad-leaved helleborine, Grangemoor Park, native orchids

During my lockdown meanders around Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park, I’ve been keeping an eye on these Broad-leaved helleborines, watching and waiting for them to bloom. Though I’d only found them in one location in previous years, this year I’ve spotted them in three different places around the park.

200712 broad-leaved helleborine 17 june (2)

Here they are on 17 June, looking healthy, with lots of lush foliage.

200712 broad-leaved helleborine 17 june (1)

Just over a week later, on 25 June, flower spikes have developed well on a couple of plants, so I’m hopeful of a good display.

200712 broad-leaved helleborine 25 june (1)
200712 broad-leaved helleborine 25 june (2)

I don’t manage to get back this way until 11 July, but I’m full of expectation of a mass of blooms. Unfortunately, though we’ve had plenty of rain, a couple of plants look brown and slightly withered (as they’re adjacent to a well-used footpath, I wonder if passing dogs might have urinated on them). A couple of other plants look as if they’ve been trampled.

200712 broad-leaved helleborine 11 july (1)
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Luckily, I have found two plants with spikes intact and a couple of flowers open on each. Such pretty little things.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...
← Older posts

About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

View Full Profile →

Follow earthstar on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent blog posts

  • A gruesome sight January 27, 2021
  • Common wall mosses January 26, 2021
  • Feather: Buzzard January 25, 2021
  • Holly flowers January 24, 2021
  • Bullfinch and Bramble January 23, 2021

From the archives

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

COPYRIGHT

Unless otherwise acknowledged, the text and photographs on this blog are my own and are subject to international copyright. Nothing may be downloaded or copied without my permission.

Click on the category

'Dedicated Naturalist' Project 365DaysWildin2019 amphibian animals autumn birds coastal fauna flowers fungi geology insects ladybird leaves lichen mammal molluscs nature nature photography parks plants reptiles seaside seasons spiders spring trees walks weather wildflowers winter

Fellow Earth Stars!

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
%d bloggers like this: