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

Delicious Dandelions

24 Sunday Apr 2022

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, wildflowers

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dandelion, dandelion flowers, insects on dandelions, International Dandelion Day

I’ve said it before, I’ll probably say it again: Dandelions are an essential source of nectar and pollen for all kinds of insects, particularly those that emerge in early Spring when few other plants are in flower. So, on this International Dandelion Day, a plea to you all – PLEASE don’t cut, kill or otherwise damage your Dandelions!

86/366 Dandelions and Brimstones

26 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring, wildflowers

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Brimstone, Brimstone butterfly, British butterflies, British wildflowers, dandelion, Gonepteryx rhamni, Grangemoor Park

Here’s why it should be an offence to cut, spray or otherwise destroy blooming wildflowers – in this case, Dandelions, in particular.

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During yesterday’s daily exercise walk around Grangemoor Park I saw at least five Brimstone butterflies. These were all males, newly emerged from hibernation and already flying frantically back and forth along their chosen path-sides and hedgerows, seeking out females to mate with.

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As there aren’t yet many wildflowers in bloom at Grangemoor, when it came time to refuel for their next patrol flight, every single one of these Brimstones stopped and supped on Dandelion nectar. In fact, once I twigged to what they were doing, I took to checking every Dandelion I saw, just in case it held a butterfly. So, please, PLEASE, leave your Dandelions for the insects to feed on.

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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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62/366 A flying start

02 Monday Mar 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring, wildflowers

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Alexanders, dandelion, flies, hoverflies, solitary bee

A little bit of sunshine and a sheltered spot, plus a few blooming wildflowers – in this case, dandelions and Alexanders, alongside a south Wales coastal road – and out came the flying critters: solitary bees a’buzzing, various species of flies a’flying and hoverflies a’hovering. Spring is off to a flying start!

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30/366 Fascinating fasciation

30 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, dandelion, dandelion flower, fasciated, fasciation, wild words

I’ve posted about this phenomenon before (see Wild word: fasciated, back in July 2018) but, as some of you may not have been following me back then, I thought it was worth repeating, especially as I’ve found such a magnificent example.

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So, this Dandelion stem and flower are fasciated, i.e. both parts of the plant exhibit an abnormal fusion which has resulted in a flattening of their structure. In this particular case, it almost appears as if three separate stems and flowers have fused into one.

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I couldn’t resist the alliteration in the title as my spellchecker kept changing fasciated to fascinated – what a difference an ‘n’ makes!

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138/365 Common carder

18 Saturday May 2019

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

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#365DaysWild, bee, British bees, Common carder bee, dandelion

Keeping it simple today – just me enjoying a bee (a Common Carder bee) enjoying a dandelion.

190518 Common carder bee

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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Variations on a theme

15 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, nature, wildflowers

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dandelion, dandelion seedhead, plant seeds, round seedheads, seed dispersal methods, seed dissemination, seeds

181115 seed dispersal (1)

With its seeds attached to tiny botanical parachutes that can be distributed far and wide by the wind, the Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale agg.) has evolved an extremely efficient method of disseminating its seed. It’s not surprising, then, that many other species use a very similar method to disperse their seeds.

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I don’t think I’m getting my wish this time around!

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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.