New awakenings

23 Sunday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, spring, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Common comfrey, Field scabious, Flax, knapweed, Oxeye daisy, Ragged robin, Red campion, Red valerian, Spring colour, Yarrow

Despite our un-spring-like weather, more and more wildflowers are coming in to bloom. Here are some I’ve noticed during the past fortnight’s ramblings in my local countryside: Comfrey, Field scabious, Flax, Knapweed, Oxeye daisy, Ragged robin, Red campion and Red valerian, and Yarrow. Though my video shows a decidedly blue-pink range of hues, there are other-coloured species in bloom – it’s just that I intend doing some family- or species-specific blogs so will save those photographs for now.

Wild and flowering

16 Friday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, spring, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Bush vetch, Garlic mustard, Herb Robert, Honesty, Red campion, Shining crane's-bill, Spring colour, spring wildflowers

These gorgeous wildflowers are now blooming in the sunnier, more sheltered spots I pass on my daily walks:

210416 bush vetch

Bush vetch (Vicia sepium), the first of the vetches I’ve seen this year.

210416 garlic mustard

Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), also known as Jack-by-the-hedge

210416 honesty

Honesty (Lunaria annua), originally a garden escapee but now naturalised in the local countryside

210416 red campion

Red campion (Silene dioica)

210416 herb robert

Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) and, below, its cousin, Shining crane’s-bill (Geranium lucidum). As you can see, the flowers of these two are very similar but the leaves are quite different.

210416 Shining crane's-bill

117/366 It’s Pea time

26 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Bush vetch, Common bird's foot trefoil, Common vetch, Grass vetchling, Red campion, Spring colour, spring wildflowers

You know the summer’s not far away when members of the extensive Pea family start to flower and, during this week’s exercise walks, I’ve spotted four Pea species newly come in to flower. The first were three of the vetches …

200426 Bush vetch

Bush vetch (Vicia sepium)

Common vetch (Vicia sativa) … and friends.

200426 Grass vetchling

Grass vetchling (Lathyrus nissolia)

200426 bird's-foot trefoil

And, also, one of my all-time favourites – possibly because it’s also a favourite with a lot of the butterflies and day-flying moths I adore so much, Common bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).

200426 Red campion

Oh, and this week’s new blooms also included one not-a-pea wildflower, the always lovely Red campion (Silene dioica).

108/365 Smut in Bute Park

18 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, fungi, nature

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Bute Park, Microbotryum silenes-dioicae, Red campion, Red campion smut, Silene dioica, smut, smut fungus

One of my Facebook friends recently made the comment that you can never have too much smut so I immediately thought of him when I saw how much smut was to be found in Cardiff’s Bute Park this afternoon.

Before you think this blog is descending rapidly towards the gutter, let me quickly say that the smut to which I am referring is Microbotryum silenes-dioicae, a smut that occurs on the anthers of Red campion (Silene dioica) flowers. It’s a type of fungus that produces brown, powdery spores so it’s very easy to spot, as you can see below – the photo on the left shows a normal Red campion flower, the flowers on the right are smutty.

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).