All the yellows

19 Sunday Apr 2026

Posted by sconzani in flowers, plants, spring, wildflowers

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Alexanders, British wildflowers, Broom, Cowslip, Creeping buttercup, dandelion, gorse, Lesser Celandine, marsh marigold, Meadow buttercup, primrose, Sea radish, Spring colour, yellow wildflowers

The splendid sight of road verges gleaming with the brilliant yellow of blooming Dandelions is fast becoming just a wonderful memory as the council tractors and strimmers once again destroy any wildflowers they see in the name of ‘neat’ and ‘tidy’, and this despite the loss of some devastating percentage (50%?) of our insect populations in the last couple of decades. I grabbed some photos before everything started to disappear …

Alexanders: in places like the coastal path the only plant in flower so currently feeding a lot of small insects.

Broom: this might survive as it was in a park surrounded by Brambles.

Cowslips: in a country park so surviving, and looking very lush.

Creeping buttercup: gone.

Dandelion and Lesser celandine: prime targets for destruction.

Gorse: these tend to survive until the flail gets used.

Marsh marigold: a small survivor from a more numerous population, where a volunteer group decided they would build a dead hedge. Make it make sense!

Meadow buttercup: gone.

Primrose: these tend to survive while they’re flowering, then it’s off with their heads!

Sea radish: on the Barrage so not strimmed but the many dogs like to pee on them.

Primulaceae

08 Sunday Feb 2026

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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Cowslip, primrose, Primrose family, Primula veris, Primula vulgaris, Primulaceae, spring flowers

Primulaceae is the collective name for the members of the Primrose family, and I was delighted, during the several hours today when there was no rain, to find the two most common Primulaceae species in flower.

I found Primroses (Primula vulgaris) in several locations – in a local park where they may originally have been planted or may be wild (the park is mostly wild so it’s difficult to be sure); along the fence line of a horse paddock; on the edge of a small woodland, and under trees in another park.

And it was a very nice surprise to also find Cowslips (Primula veris) in bloom, growing on a grassy, south-facing slope behind a local hospital. I only spotted three plants there today, where once Cowslips and Primroses were abundant. I’m fairly certain the diminished numbers can be attributed to the mismanagement of the green spaces around the hospital (in the wildflower area one of those generic signs has appeared, saying the cutting regime has been changed to benefit the flora and fauna, which seems to mean they completely abandon the area, when they should really be cutting and removing the clippings in the autumn). Still, it was a wonderful treat today to see the sun in the sky and these little drops of sunny yellow at my feet.

It’s spring!

22 Wednesday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, primrose, Primula vulgaris, spring flowers

Spring? Oh, wait. We haven’t had winter yet. Well, I found my first flowering Primrose – the traditional harbinger of springtime –lurking under the trees and shrubs in the scruffier part of a local park during today’s walk. Although it has been even wetter than usual this autumn, it has been very mild so perhaps that has fooled some plants into thinking spring is just around the corner.

231122 primrose

Spring flowers in winter rain

18 Saturday Feb 2023

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crocus, Lesser Celandine, primrose, raindrops on flowers, Snowdrops, Spring colour, spring flowers, Winter aconite

As the remnants of Storm Otto continue to blast and batter, a local meander turned up these glorious spring flowers, little beacons of colour and light on a grey winter’s day.

230218 spring flowers winter rain

First Primroses

29 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers

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British wildflowers, primrose, spring flowers, spring flowers in January, winter colour

I went hunting spring wildflowers on Friday but was, for the most part, disappointed. There was an abundance of Lesser celandine leaves but no sign of any flowers, and the merest sprinkling of Snowdrops, though no open flowers. I was, however, much more lucky with Primroses, with a single plant flowering amongst a sea of plants on a grassy hillside in a local park.

230129 primrose (1)

And then a circuit of the yard around a local church brought another plant flowering amongst the graves. Spring is coming …

230129 primrose (2)

More woodland rusts

15 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi, plants

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Dog's mercury, Melampsora populnea, primrose, Puccinia primulae, rust fungi, rust on Dog's mercury, rust on Primrose

I was admiring the glorious display of Primrose in a local wood when I noticed that many of the plants’ leaves had yellowish spots on their upper leaves. Rust, I thought, and, sure enough, on turning the leaves over, I could see the tiny cup-shaped aecia on the undersides, which confirmed this as Primrose rust (Puccinia primulae).

I found this second rust during today’s woodland meander. It’s Melampsora populnea on Dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis). Once again, there are yellowish marks on the upper leaves and, this time, rather than cups, there are minuscule splodges of yellow underneath. Neither of these rusts seems to do much harm to the plants.

Leaf mine: Chromatomyia primulae

18 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, plants, wildflowers

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Chromatomyia primulae, leaf mine on Primrose, leaf mines, leaf-mining fly, leaf-mining fly larvae, leaf-mining larvae, leafminers, primrose

I was feeling a little miffed that my walk plans have been stymied by a slippery sided stream that I didn’t fancy trying to jump and was retracing my steps when I spotted this flowering Primrose (Primula vulgaris) – and it made my day, partly because I love these buttery yellow flowers, but also because of the mines on its leaves, a new species for me.

210218 Chromatomyia primulae (1)

These are the mines of a tiny fly, Chromatomyia primulae, whose larvae also mine the leaves of Cowslip (Primula veris). I couldn’t see any larvae in the mines, which concurs with the information on the British Leafminers website that says the larvae are active in January, and then again from June to November. If I’d known, I could’ve looked for any pupae, which apparently lodge themselves in the mine next to a leaf vein. I might have to go back for a closer look.

Very few of these mines have been recorded in south Wales – only 1 record in each of the 1km-squares around me – though that is probably because they are under-recorded. And that may be the same in other parts of Britain, so do please record any you see. You can read more about these leaf miners on the British Leafminers site referenced above and on the UK Fly mines website here.

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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61/366 Lilac and yellow

01 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

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#WildflowerHour, British wildflowers, Dog violet, primrose, Winter aconite

Rather than a full list of wildflower sightings this week, I’m focusing on just three, this week’s new (to me) blooms. And, in fact, this first wildflower, Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis), was a first-ever sighting for me. Originally from southern Europe, this plant is a member of the buttercup family, and, if the database records of this beautiful flower are any indication, it’s a plant that is quite rare in the wild in Wales.

200301 winter aconite

This is a dog-violet, possibly Early dog-violet, though I didn’t take good enough photos of the particular features needed to differentiate the Early (Viola reichenbachiana) from the Common (Viola riviniana).

200301 early dog-violet

And, finally, this delightful combination of the two colours of the above blooms, lilac and yellow, a Primrose. Though not the usual cream-coloured flower we most commonly see, this is, I believe, a natural colour variation of the native Primrose, rather than something humans have bred.

200301 primrose pink variety

86/365 In west paddock

27 Wednesday Mar 2019

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

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Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, primrose, Scutellinia fungi, Small tortoiseshell, violets

190327 west paddock (1)

Today I went to Cosmeston for the first time in a few weeks and I was delighted to find its west paddock tinged a delicate shade of purple from all the violets currently in flower. I don’t remember it being so obvious in previous years. Along the edges of the paddock, primroses were in bloom, adding their soft buttery yellow to the colour mix.

While looking more closely at the flowers, I noticed tiny circles of red dotting the soil – a species of Scutellinia fungi I’m guessing, but working out which species requires some serious microscope work.

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And then along flew my first Small tortoiseshell butterfly of the year to add its vibrant hues to the kaleidoscope of colour in the paddock. Just perfect!

190327 west paddock (6)