15 Sunday Feb 2026
Posted in flowers, spring, wildflowers
Though we did have a blue-sky day yesterday, it’s been a long, grey, wet winter; earlier this week one Scottish city, Aberdeen, was celebrating seeing the sun after 21 days of its absence! The weather’s not been that dismal here in south Wales but it’s been dreary enough to make the sight of spring flowers even more heartwarming than usual. So, today here’s some multi-coloured flower-power Crocuses to brighten your day!
08 Sunday Feb 2026
Posted in flowers, wildflowers
Tags
Cowslip, primrose, Primrose family, Primula veris, Primula vulgaris, Primulaceae, spring flowers
Primulaceae is the collective name for the members of the Primrose family, and I was delighted, during the several hours today when there was no rain, to find the two most common Primulaceae species in flower.
I found Primroses (Primula vulgaris) in several locations – in a local park where they may originally have been planted or may be wild (the park is mostly wild so it’s difficult to be sure); along the fence line of a horse paddock; on the edge of a small woodland, and under trees in another park.
And it was a very nice surprise to also find Cowslips (Primula veris) in bloom, growing on a grassy, south-facing slope behind a local hospital. I only spotted three plants there today, where once Cowslips and Primroses were abundant. I’m fairly certain the diminished numbers can be attributed to the mismanagement of the green spaces around the hospital (in the wildflower area one of those generic signs has appeared, saying the cutting regime has been changed to benefit the flora and fauna, which seems to mean they completely abandon the area, when they should really be cutting and removing the clippings in the autumn). Still, it was a wonderful treat today to see the sun in the sky and these little drops of sunny yellow at my feet.
01 Sunday Feb 2026
Posted in flowers, spring, wildflowers, winter
Tags
early flowering Lesser celandine, early spring wildflowers, Lesser Celandine, spring wildflowers
Times have changed since Gilbert White noted 200 years ago that ‘the average first flowering [of Lesser celandines] around his Hampshire village of Selbourne was 21 February’ and even since Richard Mabey wrote Flora Britannica, published in 1996, as he has written that late February ‘is still the time celandines begin to bloom across much of southern England in a typical year’. Now, just 30 years later, the Lesser celandine plants growing here in south-east Wales have begun flowering in the past week, more than three weeks earlier than that previous average, and this despite the distinct lack of sunshine in recent weeks. Of course, I’m not complaining – these tiny bursts of yellow are the very best messengers of the Spring to come.
25 Sunday Jan 2026
Posted in wildflowers, winter
After a week of very cold temperatures earlier this month and what seems like almost constant wind and rain since then, our native flora have finally realised it’s winter and so it was a struggle to find any wildflowers in bloom this week.
I thought I was going to have to be content with the ‘Winter 9’ in the above image (which are Alexanders, Daisy, Dandelion, Gorse, Groundsel, Sea radish, Sweet violet, Winter heliotrope, and Yarrow) but then, during this morning’s walk, I spotted this Hogweed, bringing me to a total of 10, still quite a disappointing total compared to recent years.
19 Wednesday Nov 2025
Posted in autumn, plants, wildflowers
I’ve seen viviparous Teasels before (see Wild word: viviparity, January 2024) but these viviparous umbellifers – I think these are Wild Carrots (Daucus carota), spotted during my circuit of Cardiff Bay last Thursday, were a first for me and a result, I’m sure, of how warm and wet this autumn has been.
Viviparity is when seeds begin the germination process, producing their primary leaves, while the seeds are still joined to their parent plant.
I must make a point of visiting this location in the next week or so to see whether the seeds continue to grow, producing secondary leaves, and more, while still within the seedhead structures.
12 Wednesday Nov 2025
Posted in autumn, flowers, wildflowers
It’s been a very grey week here so I thought I’d change things up and we’d have a splash of mid week colour. During my daily walks last week, I took photos of all the pinkish-coloured wildflowers I found – more than I expected but, after our very dry summer, the wet but mild autumn weather has caused a flush of late growth and flowering in the local flora.
Blue fleabane, Burdock, Common mallow, and Creeping thistle
Devil’s-bit and Field scabious, Pencilled geranium, and Hedge woundwort
Hemp agrimony, Herb Robert, Ivy-leaved toadflax, and Meadow crane’s-bill
Purple toadflax, Red campion, Red clover, and Red valerian
19 Sunday Oct 2025
Posted in autumn, insects, wildflowers
Tags
British wildflowers, Common carder bee, Common carder on Devil's-bit scabious, Devil's-bit scabious, insects on Devil's-bit scabious
This has been such a strange year for flora and fauna. Usually, in mid autumn, I’d be checking what insects I could find on the Devil’s-bit scabious flowers, as they are one of the last sources of nourishment for many of our flying insects. Not this year. The summer drought seems to have led to a lot of our local insects either failing to breed second and third generations or, perhaps, just dying off earlier than usual due to a lack of food, and the Devil’s-bit scabious flowers are nowhere near as lush as they normally are. When I walked through a local nature reserve this week, I found just one Common carder bee on the scabious … just one! It will be very interesting to see what effect this changing climate has on next year’s flora and fauna when they begin to grow and emerge.
12 Sunday Oct 2025
Posted in autumn, flowers, plants, wildflowers
Despite finding a respectable 60 wildflowers still in bloom during last week’s walk, I knew I could find even more so I’ve kept my eyes peeled during this week’s walks. These are the ones I missed last week …
Bird’s-foot trefoil, Blue fleabane, Bramble, Common chickweed, Common mallow, Common toadflax, Creeping thistle, Gorse, and Hedge bedstraw.
Hogweed, Honeysuckle, and Mayweed.
Meadow buttercup, Narrow-leaved ragwort, Nipplewort, Red dead-nettle, Selfheal, White melilot, Woody nightshade, Yellow corydalis, and Yellow-wort.
I had to add this last one – not a wildflower, but a random Tomato that had somehow self-seeded along the edge of one of the local back lanes. I admire its tenacity.
05 Sunday Oct 2025
Posted in autumn, flowers, wildflowers
It’s been a while since I informally surveyed which wildflowers were in bloom at any specific point in time, so I did that during two of this week’s walks, the first a full circuit of Cardiff Bay, the other a walk along the local section of the Welsh coastal path. I was surprised to find 60 species flowering and suspect this total has something to do with this year’s weather. After our hot, dry summer, the wildflowers are making up for lost time now that we’re getting more rain. These are what I found …
Agrimony, Black medick, Black nightshade, Bristly oxtongue, Broad-leaved willowherb, Canadian fleabane, Common calamint, Common fleabane, Creeping buttercup, Creeping Jenny, Daisy, and Dandelion.
Devil’s-bit scabious, Evening primrose, Eyebright, Fennel, Field speedwell, Goat’s-rue, Great willowherb, Groundsel, Gypsywort, Hairy tare, Hedge woundwort, and Hemp agrimony.
Herb Bennett, Herb Robert, Hoary mustard, Ivy-leaved toadflax, Knapweed, Knotgrass, Lady’s bedstraw, Large bindweed, Lucerne, Marsh woundwort, Meadow crane’s-bill, and Mignonette.
Mouse-ear-hawkweed, Old man’s beard, Oxeye daisy, Pineappleweed, Prickly sow-thistle, Purple toadflax, Common Ragwort, Red clover, Red valerian, Redshank, Rosebay willowherb, and Round-leaved crane’s-bill.
Scarlet pimpernel, Sea radish, Shepherd’s-purse, Shining crane’s-bill, Tansy, Tutsan, Viper’s-bugloss, White campion, White clover, Wild carrot, Common stork’s-bill, and Yarrow.
28 Sunday Sep 2025
Posted in autumn, flowers, plants, wildflowers
Tags
autumn colour, autumn wildflowers, British wildflowers, Goldenrod, Solidago virgaurea, yellow wildflowers
Is there a more aptly named wildflower? This is Goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea), which, when in full bloom, looks exactly as you might expect a plant with that name to look. As it flowers in late summer – early autumn, not only does it provide a welcome burst of bright colour at a time when many other wildflowers are past their best, it also supplies much needed nourishment at that time of year to a multitude of insects. Butterfly Conservation have produced a pdf extolling the benefits of Goldenrod, which they say is a food source for around 40 moth species, as well as numerous species of flies.
I’m not sure why but this is not a flower I see locally; I found these plants in the quarries on the Isle of Portland. My wildflower guide book says it can be found growing in dry woodlands and grasslands, on cliffs and in sand dunes, throughout the British Isles – maybe I’ve overlooked it in my area.
I’ve read that Goldenrod contains certain beneficial chemicals that have anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties and, in Flora Britannica, Richard Mabey writes that ‘In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was in great demand as a wound herb but, according to John Gerard [The Herball, 1597], fell from favour when it was discovered to be rather common.’ Whether or not the benefit to humans has been scientifically proven seems open to question, and I would certainly never advise anyone to ingest plant products rather than seek proper medical attention for any ailments they might have. Perhaps this is a plant best left for the insects to feast on.
earthstar 
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