161/365 A Goat’s-beard clock

10 Monday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, wildflowers

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#365DaysWild, British wildflowers, Goat's-beard, Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, Lavernock Nature Reserve, seed clock, Tragopogon pratensis, wildflower clock

You might well think that this seed clock belongs in an autumn blog post, rather than one from the lengthy days of early summer, but I saw this today at Lavernock Nature Reserve and couldn’t resist it. This is the fruit of Goat’s-beard (Tragopogon pratensis), a wildflower that is also known by the delightful name Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon because its bright yellow flowers always close up by midday.

114/365 Blue runner

24 Wednesday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, nature, plants, wildflowers

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ale-hoof, blue flowers, Blue runner, British flora, British wildflowers, Glechoma hederacea, Ground ivy

Ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea) is a type of dead-nettle, common in woodlands, lurking under hedgerows and scrambling over dampish spaces. Richard Mabey’s Flora Britannica tells me this pretty little plant was once known as blue runner because of its blue-ish flowers and its habit of spreading via overground runners. Another interesting titbit: ‘before hops became widely used in brewing, it was once one of the chief bittering agents in the making of beer’, which is why another of its common names is ale-hoof.

104/365 Peggles, paigles

14 Sunday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

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#365DaysWild, British wildflowers, Cowslip, False oxslips, Paigles, Peggles, spring wildflowers

I know these gorgeous wildflowers as Cowslips but they have a wealth of other names, including Hey-flowers, Peggles, Paigles, Culverkeys and Bunch of keys, according to the entry in my Flora Britannica. Perhaps you know other local names for them.

One thing I didn’t know until today is that the name Cowslip is a euphemism for ‘cow-slop’ or cow pat because these lovely blooms often grow best in fields that have been well ‘fertilised’ by cows.

p.s. My Facebook friend George has very kindly corrected my flower identification: ‘The first and last photos are false oxlips rather than true cowslips, these are hybrids between cowslips and primroses and have slightly bigger, paler and more open flowers.’ I must pay more attention next time I’m looking at wildflowers!

94/365 Wet and wild

04 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

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#365DaysWild, British flora, British wildflowers, spring wildflowers, wildflowers in bloom

We’re in the grip of a wintery blast here at the moment, though without the snow my friends in the Valleys have (not) been enjoying. Luckily, I managed to time my stroll around the local parks to coincide with a break in the heavy rain and hail showers, searching for whichever wildflowers I could find in bloom. They’re all rather damp but I quite like them adorned with raindrops.

dandelion

violet

grape hyacinth

red valerian

primrose

daisy

three-cornered leek

lesser celandine

forget-me-not

cow parsley

ivy-leaved toadflax

wild strawberry

90/365 Marsh merry-golds

31 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, marsh marigold, spring flowers, yellow flowers, yellow wildflowers

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Now before you feel the need to correct the spelling of ‘merry-gold’ in my title, let me just say that it was deliberate because I find Marsh marigolds such cheery, merry flowers, and it always makes me smile to see them. I spotted some yesterday in Cardiff’s Heath Park, and they’re also in full flower at the moment in Penarth’s Alexandra Park, where I went for a meander earlier today.

63/365 Sweet violets

04 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Sweet violet, Viola odorata, violet, white wildflowers, wildflowers

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When I see violets, I always think of my nana Johno, my mother’s mother. She always had violets growing in her garden and would often pick a few to bring inside so she could enjoy their sweet scent. I spotted these particular violets on my way to Cosmeston this morning, growing wild on a grassy bank. I wasn’t able to smell them but I’m fairly sure these are Sweet violets (Viola odorata), which, as well as the traditional purple colour, can also be found in this pretty white variation.

61/365 From food to frass

02 Saturday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, plants, wildflowers

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#365DaysWild, Alexanders, Angle shades caterpillar, Angle shades larvae, Angle shades moth, British moths, British wildflowers, Phlogophora meticulosa

First I noticed the frass (that’s pooh, to most of us). Then I thought ‘Something fairly big must be in these Alexanders’ flower heads somewhere’. And, sure enough, with a little gentle pulling aside of leaves and flowers, I found the frass creator, very well camouflaged by its light green colouring. And then I thought, ‘There might be more’. And, sure enough, I found three caterpillars on three different plants, and frass on several more plants. These are the larvae of the Angle Shades moth (Phlogophora meticulosa). I thought it seemed rather early for them but my local Butterfly Conservation expert George tells me you can find them pretty much any time of year.

54/365 The lion’s tooth

23 Saturday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, plants, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, dandelion, dent-de-lion, lion's tooth, yellow wildflowers

The French dent-de-lion, lion’s tooth (from the shape of its leaves), became, in English, Dandelion, that wonderful burst of wildflower yellow that lights up grassy meadows and roadside verges, and provides an important early source of pollen to emerging insects. I couldn’t go past this particularly lush flower as I stomped down the zigzag path this afternoon.

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Wildflower update

13 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers, winter

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#WildflowerHour, British wildflowers, wildflowers in bloom, winter wildflower challenge

It’s been a couple of weeks since I last checked which wildflowers are still flowering so, as I wandered the countryside this week, I kept my eyes open for what was still about. Perhaps surprisingly, as it has been a bit colder and frostier, those plants still flowering are pretty much the same as on my New Year’s plant hunt, with one exception. I’ve not discovered any Red Campion locally but found a couple of plants in bloom on Wednesday during my walk from Parc Slip Nature Reserve back to the railway station in Tondu. It’s the first flower shown below, and the others are all the locals I’ve spied.

Winter 10, week 4

16 Sunday Dec 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers, winter

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#WildflowerHour, #winter10, British wildflowers, cats, flowering wildflowers, wildflowers, winter flowers, Winter heliotrope

It’s certainly getting a little more difficult now to find any wildflowers in bloom but, tucked away from the prevailing westerlies and battering rain in small sheltered niches, a few wee beauties still persist.

And, of course, the winter-flowering species, like the Winter heliotrope pictured above, are just beginning their flowering period. I managed to find several large swathes of this invasive plant in and around Penarth this week. My other finds are shown below.