29 Sunday Nov 2020
Posted in autumn, wildflowers
The seedheads of Old-man’s-beard – or perhaps you prefer to call it Traveller’s-joy – the native British Clematis vitalba, are a feathery delight, and I can rarely refrain from taking photos of them.
I also relish the delicate vanilla fragrance of the plant’s spiky flowers.
So, imagine my delight during today’s walk when I found both flowers and seedheads on the same plant. Spring and autumn, scent and seeds – a delicious, if slightly strange combination.
22 Sunday Nov 2020
Posted in autumn, wildflowers
For this week’s wildfloral fest, I’ve taken a couple of meanders around my town to see what I could find along the back lanes, in cracks on stone walls, on the verges, bordering the pavements, in the churchyard and cemetery. And here are the bloomers: Bramble, Daisy, Dandelion, Field speedwell, Hedge bindweed and Hedge woundwort, Hemp agrimony, Herb Robert, Ivy-leaved toadflax, Nipplewort, Oxeye daisy, my first Primrose of the season, Purple toadflax, Red dead-nettle, Red valerian, and Wood avens. Not a bad haul for late November.
18 Wednesday Nov 2020
Posted in autumn, plants, wildflowers
If all seeds that fall were to grow, then no one could follow
the path under the trees. ~ Nigerian proverb
15 Sunday Nov 2020
Posted in autumn, wildflowers
Tags
autumn colour, British wildflowers, Penarth zigzag path, wildflowers in bloom, Zigzag path, Zigzag path wildflowers
I haven’t checked what’s flowering along the local zigzag path for a while so I thought I’d take a look for this week’s Sunday wildflower post and #wildflowerhour on social media. Imagine my delight when I found these 14 species: Ragwort, Cinquefoil (a nice surprise), Creeping thistle, Hedge bindweed, Meadow crane’s-bill (which is doing really well since the Council stopped cutting the vegetation on this site), Common vetch, Red clover, Bramble species, Herb Robert, Field scabious, Tufted vetch (nice to see the two vetches in bloom), Winter helleborine (another nice, unexpectedly early surprise) [ed. heliotrope, not helleborine – thanks, Vicky!], Black medick, and Meadow buttercup.
08 Sunday Nov 2020
Posted in autumn, wildflowers
Tags
autumn colour, autumn wildflowers, British wildflowers, farm field wildflowers, wildflowers in bloom
Running alongside the local coastal path are a series of farm fields, belonging, I understand, to the Welsh government.
These fields are usually leased for farming but, because there are currently plans to build 500 houses here (and don’t even get me started on how ludicrous that is!), it seems no local farmer was willing to lease the fields this year so they have not been cultivated. This has been an incredible bonus for wildlife (this is a well-used flyway so migrating birds have taken advantage of the re-wilded environment) and for the wildflowers that would usually be sprayed to death prior to crop planting.
This week I’ve checked which flowers are still in bloom in these fields and their surrounding hedgerows, and found the following: Hedge bindweed, Bramble species, Bristly oxtongue, Creeping thistle, Dandelion species, Field speedwell, Rape, Scarlet pimpernel (the day was too dull for the flower to open), Smooth sow-thistle, Spear thistle, Sun spurge, and Ragwort.
04 Wednesday Nov 2020
Posted in autumn, plants, weather, wildflowers
If you thought I’d exaggerated about how wet last month was, it’s official – Derek, the Welsh BBC weatherman, yesterday tweeted that ‘October was wetter than average in Wales with 208mm of rain’. Temperatures and sunshine were also below normal, and, having just returned from a long local walk, I can tell you it’s very squelchy out there. Still, the wet has its compensations as today’s seedheads testify.
01 Sunday Nov 2020
Posted in autumn, flowers, 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.
25 Sunday Oct 2020
Posted in autumn, wildflowers
Today’s blast of colour is brought to you by the colour purple, with splashes of pink and blue and lilac. All these gorgeous wild plants are still flowering in my local area and, on grey days, when we here in Wales are once again in full Covid-19 lockdown, seeing these on my daily exercise walks is a spirit-lifting delight!
For those who want to know, these are: Buddleja, Bush vetch, Common knapweed, Creeping thistle, Devil’s-bit scabious, Field scabious, Hedge woundwort, Herb Robert, Ivy-leaved toadflax, Meadow crane’s-bill, Musk-mallow, Purple toadflax, Rosebay willowherb, Teasel, and Tufted vetch.
18 Sunday Oct 2020
Posted in autumn, plants, wildflowers
12 Monday Oct 2020
Posted in autumn, wildflowers
Botanically speaking, I’ve been a bit preoccupied in the past few weeks with the structural shapes of seedheads and the autumn bounty of fruit, so yesterday, during a walk across farm fields and along woodland rides, I thought I’d record how many wildflowers I could find in bloom. Turns out, there are still rather a lot, including Agrimony, Bramble, Broad-leaved willowherb, Creeping buttercup, Creeping thistle, a Dandelion species, Hedge woundwort, Hemp agrimony, Herb Robert, Knapweed, Meadow vetchling, Ragwort, Red campion, Red clover, White clover and Yarrow.
earthstar 
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