26 Sunday Jun 2022
Posted in flowers, wildflowers
Tags
British orchids, British wildflowers, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, native orchids, Pyramidal orchid
I learned, earlier this week, that the rangers and volunteers at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park do an annual count of the orchids growing in the east paddock. On Friday 17 June, they counted an amazing 4828 Pyramidal orchids (as well as 5254 Common-spotted and 155 Bee orchids). These are just a few of those splendorous Pyramidals.
12 Sunday Jun 2022
Posted in flowers, wildflowers
Yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor), the meadow-maker, the miracle-working semi-parasitic plant that weakens the overwhelming grasses in our fields by feeding on their nutrients, thus allowing more delicate wildflowers their chance to thrive. The rattle in the name comes from the noise of the ripe seeds in their pods and, according to the Plantlife website, cattle love its taste – ‘when let into a field it is the first thing they will eat’, so it’s a win for the cattle, and a win for wildflowers.
05 Sunday Jun 2022
Posted in flowers, wildflowers
The site where I usually see Southern marsh-orchids (Dactylorhiza praetermissa), Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park, has been closed for several months (it’s a former landfill site and the aged infrastructure that manages escaping methane gas and the leaching of contaminated water into the adjacent river is being upgraded). So, it was a thrilling surprise to discover three of these beauties in the damp lower edge of a local meadow where they’ve not been recorded before.
01 Sunday May 2022
Posted in flowers, plants, walks, wildflowers
I couldn’t resist sharing the floral delights from my various wanders in the local woodlands during April. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have – the wildflowers have been simply gorgeous!
10 Sunday Apr 2022
Posted in flowers, spring, wildflowers
In which I share a little video of the latest wildflowers to bloom in my neck of the woods …
03 Sunday Apr 2022
Posted in spring, wildflowers
Tags
Arum maculatum, British wildflowers, Cardamine pratensis, Cuckoo-pint, Cuckooflower, Lady's-smock, Lords-and-ladies, Milkmaid
The coincidence of the pale and delicate Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis) coming into bloom at the same time as the first Cuckoos arrive back from over-wintering in Africa is the likely origin of this wildflower’s common name, though several other wildflowers also bloom at this time and, with the climate changing, the flower’s blooming and the bird’s arrival no longer coincide very precisely. Perhaps the alternate Lady’s-smock and Milkmaid are more appropriate names.
Another wildflower that is known in some areas as Cuckoo flower, as its flowers open around this time, is Arum maculatum. I know it best as Lords-and-Ladies, but many call it Cuckoo-pint (rhymes with mint), for which there is a somewhat more risqué explanation: pint is short for pintle, meaning penis. I’m sure you can all see why.
27 Sunday Mar 2022
Posted in wildflowers
Tags
British wildflowers, Lesser Celandine, Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, Wood anemone, woodland wildflowers
Earlier this week I walked to one of my local woodlands to check what wildflowers were in bloom. The sparse scattering of Wild garlic flowers and just one plant with open Bluebells were a little disappointing but the carpet of lush plants under the trees held great promise of the beauty to come. The Wood anemones, Lesser celandine and Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage were a delight, as were the other wildflowers dotted here and there. I’m already looking forward to my next visit.
21 Monday Mar 2022
Posted in birds, wildflowers
Not a combination you see every day: a Redshank passing some golden Coltsfoot, growing near the river’s edge …
13 Sunday Mar 2022
Posted in nature, spring, wildflowers
Tags
British wildflowers, Common whitlowgrass, Erophila verna, signs of spring, sping wildflowers, Spring colour
‘Modestly cheerful’ – this is how Richard Mabey describes Common whitlowgrass (Erophila verna) in Flora Britannica. He continues: ‘The small white flowers are amongst the first to appear in March, and are followed by seed-pods a little like miniaturised versions of honesty’s.’
He also explains that the name is due to the plant’s use by medieval herbalists to treat whitlows, not a medical condition I was familiar with but which the Oxford Dictionary defines as ‘an abscess in the soft tissue near a fingernail or toenail’. I don’t recommend a Google image search as the condition looks quite gruesome, but these wildflowers, often present in large massed displays, are a delight.
27 Sunday Feb 2022
Posted in flowers, spring, wildflowers, winter
The title of today’s post may be later winter wildflowers but, in fact, my video includes some glorious hints of the spring colour we can all expect to see very soon. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed finding them.
earthstar 
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