26/366 Three-cornered leek

26 Sunday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers, winter

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Allium triquetrum, British wildflowers, Onion weed, Three-cornered leek

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In New Zealand we call this plant Onion weed but, here in Britain, its common name is Three-cornered leek. As its scientific name, Allium triquetrum, indicates, this bulbous plant is part of the garlic and onion family, the Alliums, and triquetrum refers to the triangular shape of its flower stem.

200125 three cornered leek (2)

In Flora Britannica, Richard Mabey writes that this smelly plant was ‘introduced to Britain in 1752’ and ‘began to escape into shady hedge-banks and churchyards in Cornwall in the 1860s. By the 1930s it was in Devon’ and, in 1995, Mabey found it in the Chilterns, near London. Obviously, it’s spread even further since then, as it’s jumped the border and is thriving here in Wales. These were my first Three-cornered leek flowers for 2020.

200125 three cornered leek (1)

22/366 First Snowdrops

22 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, Eirlys, signs of spring, snowdrop

I saw my first Snowdrops of 2020 today in Cardiff’s Bute Park.

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Candlemas bells, Mary’s taper, Snow piercer, February fairmaids, Dingle-dangle – all vernacular names for Snowdrops, according to my Flora Britannica. In Welsh, Snowdrop is Eirlys (pronounced Ire-liss), a lovely word that’s sometimes used as a girl’s name. How pretty!

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13/366 Sweet violets

13 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Sweet violet, Viola odorata

As the gusty winds of Storm Brendan began to blow the trees around and I slipped and slid along Cosmeston’s muddy paths, I came upon this host of spring flowers.

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Not the traditional host (of Daffodils) these, but rather Sweet violets (Viola odorata), considered native in some parts of Britain, invasive garden escapees in others. I’m not sure which these are but they were lovely to see.

I didn’t detect any smell but that could perhaps just have been the wind and rain or my inadequate nose, as I’m fairly sure they are Sweet violets – blunt sepals, hairy stems and leaves, the right leaf shape and growth pattern, flowering very early. A delight on a grey day.

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9/366 First Lesser celandine of 2020

09 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, Lesser Celandine, Spring colour, spring flowers

Not only did yesterday’s walk bring me the amazing sighting of a Mandarin duck, it also delighted me with this drop of golden sunlight come to earth, my first Lesser celandine flower of 2020.

200108 lesser celandine

5/366 Musk mallow

05 Sunday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, Malva moschata, Musk mallow, wildflowers in bloom, winter colour, winter wildflowers

This Musk mallow (Malva moschata) must be the prettiest wildflower I’ve found still in bloom so far this year.

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They can usually be found in dry places, like ‘chalk pastures, roadsides, churchyards and old quarries’, according to my Flora Botanica: this one was on a roadside verge next to Grangemoor Park, a former rubbish dump now park.

Plantlife’s website has some fascinating snippets about this pretty plant. Did you know …

The ancient Greeks used musk mallow to decorate friends’ graves.
Musk mallow was once an ingredient in soothing cough syrups and ointments, and it was also valued as an aphrodisiac!
In the Victorian “Language of Flowers” it is said to be a symbol of ‘consumed by love’, persuasion, and weakness.

Can you spot the itsy-bitsy spider?

2/366 New Year Plant Hunt

02 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, Cardiff Bay, New Year Plant Hunt, wildflowers in bloom, winter wildflowers

While I was walking around Cardiff Bay yesterday, not only was I keeping an eye on the sky for birds, I was also looking down a lot, trying to find as many wildflowers in bloom as possible for the New Year Plant Hunt – to be honest, it’s amazing I didn’t fall over, with my head bobbing up and down like one of those nodding dogs you used to see in the back windows of cars (some of you may be too young to remember those!).

The New Year Plant Hunt actually goes on for four days, from the 1st to the 4th, so you’ve still time to join in. The event is run by the BSBI, the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland, and aims to ‘find out how our wildflowers are responding to changes in autumn and winter weather patterns’. You can read all about it on their website, and follow along on the social media of your choice.

I was surprised and delighted with my haul from yesterday, finding 28 (!) wildflowers in bloom. My tentative identifications are: a thistle species; Common ragwort; Winter heliotrope; Red clover; a Gorse species; Daisy; one of the Cat’s-ears (I think); a member of the carrot family, perhaps one of the parsleys; Bristly oxtongue; Red valerian; Hemlock water dropwort; a dandelion species; Black nightshade; a sowthistle species; a mayweed, I think; a buttercup species; Bramble; Sea radish; a hawkweed species; Groundsel; Petty spurge (with a rust fungus); Narrow-leaved bittercress; White melilot; Yarrow; Oxeye daisy; Common kapweed; Shepherd’s-purse; and Herb Robert.

356/365 Winter solstice wildflowers

22 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, plants, wildflowers, winter

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#WildflowerHour, #winter10, British wildflowers, wildflowers in bloom, winter wildflowers, winter-blooming wildflowers

It may be the shortest day of the year but I’ve found more blooming wildflowers this week than in the previous weeks of wildflowerhour’s winter 10 challenge. Here we have: a Buttercup species; Daisy; one of the many Dandelion species; Hemlock water dropwort; still quite a bit of Herb Robert about; Ivy-leaved toadflax is flourishing in the wet weather; a Knapweed; a lovely surprise, a couple of plants of Musk mallow; Oxeye daisy; plenty of Petty spurge; surprisingly, a few Primroses already in flower (though most partly eaten); Common ragwort; Red clover; quite a lot of Red valerian; what I assume is Sea radish; plenty of Shepherd’s purses; one of the Sowthistles; Violets – sweet, I think; a Thistle species; White clover; an umbellifer which I think is Wild carrot; quite a lot of Winter heliotrope in flower now; Yarrow; and, a bright burst of Yellow corydalis.

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349/365 Another winter 10

15 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in nature, wildflowers, winter

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#WildflowerHour, #winter10, British wildflowers, winter colour, winter wildflowers

I think I could have found more than ten wildflowers in bloom for this week’s wildflowerhour but my walks were a little restricted by the weather and chores. Still, I am happy to have seen these ten: a Buttercup species, Daisy, a Gorse species, Groundsel, Hemlock water dropwort, Ivy-leaved toadflax, Ragwort, Red clover and Red valerian, and the lovely Yarrow.

191215 buttercup sp 191215 daisy 191215 gorse sp 191215 groundsel 191215 Hemlock water dropwort 191215 ivy-leaved toadflax 191215 ragwort 191215 red clover 191215 red valerian 191215 yarrow

342/365 Winter 10, again

08 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, plants, wildflowers, winter

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#WildflowerHour, #winter10, British flora, British wildflowers, wildflowers in bloom, winter wildflowers

Though my title is ‘Winter 10’, I’ve actually found 18 wildflowers in bloom during this week’s meanderings. They are: Bittercress species, Black nightshade, Bristly oxtongue, Daisy, a Gorse species, Groundsel, one of the Hawkbits, Herb Robert, the invasive Himalayan balsam, still one flower of Meadow crane’s-bill, Petty spurge, Common ragwort, Red clover, Red valerian, one of the umbellifer species, Winter heliotrope (this bud is not quite open but I couldn’t reach the one that was), and Yarrow.

My apologies for the sometimes blurry images and my fingers appearing in some shots – it’s been a week of frequent gusty winds and rain, not conducive to macro photography.

335/365 Winter 11

01 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in nature, wildflowers

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#WildflowerHour, #winter10, British wildflowers, winter wildflower challenge, winter wildflowers

I found this week’s blooming wildflowers (for #wildflower and the hunt for the #winter10, plus one!) on a circular walk from Penarth through Cosmeston and back along the coastal path, so there was quite a variation in habitats, from urban to meadow to coastal. Here’s what I found: Bramble species, Bristly ox-tongue, Daisy, Hedge woundwort (a lovely surprise to still find one of these in flower), Herb Robert, Ivy-leaved toadflax, Meadow buttercup, Oxeye daisy, a speedwell species, an umbellifer species, and Yellow-wort.