Winter six

22 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, Daisy, dandelion, Field speedwell, wildflowers in bloom, Winter heliotrope, winter wildflowers

After a week of hard frosts and bitterly cold winds, it’s not surprising that I’ve found very few wildflowers in bloom. Indeed, I’m rather surprised to have found any. But those I have found seem to be particularly hardy plants and are wildflowers I’ve previously found during the winter months. They are Daisy and Dandelion, Field speedwell, Gorse, Sun spurge, and Winter heliotrope.

230122 winter six

Wild in the churchyard

31 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, Crocuses, Daisy, Primroses, Red valerian, Snowdrops, St Augustine's Church, Winter heliotrope, winter wildflowers

I often take a wander through the churchyard of St Augustine’s during my local exercise walks. As this space is purposefully managed to attract wildlife and nurture the environment, it’s always a pleasure to visit, to sit on a bench and listen to the birdsong, to check for what’s growing and blooming. On Thursday’s visit, I looked for wildflowers and was delighted to find my first Snowdrops and Crocuses of the year, as well as a lot of Winter heliotrope, several Primroses, a few Daisies in the grass, and the white-flowered variety of Red valerian.

210131 StAugs wildflowers (1) 210131 StAugs wildflowers (2) 210131 StAugs wildflowers (3) 210131 StAugs wildflowers (4) 210131 StAugs wildflowers (5) 210131 StAugs wildflowers (6)

68/366 Pavement plants

08 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, wildflowers

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#PavementPlants, #WildflowerHour, British wildflowers, Coltsfoot, Common cornsalad, Daisy, dandelion, Herb Robert, Lesser Celandine, primrose, Red dead-nettle, Shepherd's purse

Now that Spring has sprung, the folks who run #WildflowerHour on social media are issuing weekly challenges for followers to focus their searches around. This week it was #PavementPlants, searching for any plants in bloom that were growing in the cracks or along the edges of their local pavements. Challenges like this do mean you get some odd looks from people when you’re photographing your finds but I’m very used to that these days.

Here’s what I found: Coltsfoot (I love how tenacious these plants are – they were pushing up between the cracks in an old set of steps connecting two local streets); Common cornsalad; Daisy; Dandelion; Herb Robert; Lesser celandine; Primrose; Red dead-nettle; and Shepherd’s-purse.

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31/365 Frosty and hungry

31 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, flowers, nature, weather, wildflowers, winter

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birding, British birds, Daisy, frost, frosty winter days, Woodpigeon

190131frostydaisy

It was frosty white this morning but, as I write this at 4pm, the forecast snow hasn’t arrived. If I sound disappointed, it’s because I am – as an Antipodean who’s not seen much snow, I love it when it does happen. Still, I enjoyed crunching around the fields at Cosmeston this morning and made sure I took plenty of bird seed for all my hungry feathered friends.

190131woodpigeon

‘Ups a daisy’

22 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

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Bellis perennis, Daisy, daisy expressions, daisy idioms, nature in English language, nature sayings

180422 daisy (1)

Nature is so interwoven in our lives that we sometimes don’t stop to think where the everyday expressions we use have come from.

‘to be as fresh as a daisy’ – to be keen, enthusiastic and ready to go, after relaxation or a good refreshing sleep. This saying apparently comes from the Old English version of daisy, which was ‘day’s eye’, a reference to the way its petals close at night and reopen afresh the next morning.

‘Whoops a daisy’ or perhaps ‘oops a daisy’ or ‘ups a daisy’ – it seems there are many spelling variations for this phrase, which was originally used to encourage children to get up off the ground after a fall and is now more generally used as an exclamation following a mistake or accident.

‘to be pushing up daisies’ – a euphemism for being dead and buried, and thus helping to the fertilise the daisies that grow above the ground in which we lie.

This week in wildflowers

23 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

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#FloralFriday, British flora, British wildflowers, Colt's-foot, Daisy, dandelion, gorse, Groundsel, Lesser Celandine, Red dead-nettle, Speedwell, Three-cornered garlic, wildflowers

What a week it’s been weather wise! We’ve gone from a generous dumping of snow and temperatures hovering around -5°C last Sunday through occasional rain, sunny periods, UV factors up and down, zephyr winds and mustang gales. Is it spring or isn’t it? Well, I’m seeing increasingly more wildflowers so I guess it must be. Here’s a selection from this week’s wanders.

Colt’s-foot (Tussilago farfara)

Daisy (Bellis perennis)

a type of Dandelion (Taraxacum sp.)

a type of Gorse (Ulex sp.)

Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris)

Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna)

Red dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum)

a species of Speedwell (probably Germander) (Veronica sp.)

Three-cornered leek (Allium triquetrum)

Wildflowers at Barry Docks

21 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by sconzani in autumn, flowers, nature, wildflowers

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Barry Docks, British wildflowers, Common toadflax, Daisy, Hemp agrimony, Hoary mustard, Ragwort, Red valerian, scabious, Wild parsnip, wildflowers, Yellow-wort

I caught the train to Barry Docks last Friday, hoping to get a good look at an uncommon bird (a Great northern diver) that had been making itself at home there for the previous week or so.

171121 Barry Docks

Unfortunately, the bird spent most of the two hours I was there happily swimming and diving several hundred yards away on the other side of the dock, but it was a gloriously sunny day and I did find lots of lovely wildflowers still in bloom around the edge of the docks so I was happy.

Bute Park wildflowers

17 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, wildflowers

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Bluebell, Bute Park, Common dog-violet, Daisy, dandelion, Germander speedwell, Golden saxifrage, gorse, Greater stitchwort, Green alkanet, Herb Robert, Lesser Celandine, primrose, Red campion, Sweet violet, White deadnettle, Wild garlic, Wild strawberry, Wood anemone

This weekend I could have paid £12 to see what I’m sure would have been gorgeous flowers and inspirational displays at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Flower Show being held here in Cardiff’s Bute Park but, as I don’t have that kind of cash to splash at the moment, I decided to see what flowers I could find in Bute Park for nothing. With 18 different types of wildflowers currently in bloom I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Enjoy!

160417 greater stitchwort Stellaria holostea

160417 Green Alkanet Pentaglottis sempervirens

There were: Bluebell (mostly Spanish but I found a few natives) (Hyacinthoides non-scripta); Daisy (Bellis perennis); Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale); White deadnettle (Lamium album); Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum); Germander speedwell (Veronica Chamaedrys); Gorse (Ulex europaeus); Greater stitchwort (Stellaria holostea); Green alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens); Lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria); Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium); Primrose (Primula vulgaris); Red campion (Silene dioica); Common dog-violet (Viola riviniana) and Sweet violet (Viola odorata); Wild garlic (Allium ursinum); Wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca); and Wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa).