More yellow

09 Sunday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, spring, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Spring colour, wildflowers in bloom, yellow flowers, yellow wildflowers

A month ago, I shared some of the yellow-flowered wildflowers I’d found for the weekly #WildflowerHour challenge. In the weeks since, more yellow flowers have begun to bloom and, as today’s weather (I’m writing this on Saturday, as we sit under a heavy rain warning) is grey and windy and very wet, I fancy some bright sunshiny yellow. So, here we go …

The flowers are the butterflies’ favourite Bird’s-foot trefoil and the vibrant bushes of Broom. Although I shared some of these last time, I couldn’t resist a Shrew’s-eye view of more Cowslips. The buttercups are beginning to take over from the Lesser celandine as Nature’s yellow carpet in the meadows – these are Creeping and Meadow buttercups. Prickly sow-thistles line the edges of the lane behind my house, and Spotted medick is now brightening up the pavement verges. I’d glimpsed Yellow archangel last time but now these lovely spikes are popping up everywhere in my local woodland, a beautiful compliment to the Bluebells.

Early-purple orchids

07 Friday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, spring, wildflowers

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British native orchids, British orchids, Early-purple orchid, native orchids, Orchis mascula, Spring colour

The 2021 orchid season has begun!

210507 early purple orchids (1)

In my local area, the first orchids to bloom are the Early-purples (Orchis mascula) and this week I was delighted to find them in two local areas, one a nature reserve, the other a woodland I regularly visit.

The Plantlife website notes that there is a legend the ‘Early Purple Orchid grew under Christ’s cross, and the leaves were splattered with the blood of Christ, have resulted in the names Gethesmane and cross flower.’

210507 early purple orchids (5)

The website also lists some of this orchid’s other vernacular names: ‘adder’s meat, bloody butchers, red butchers, goosey ganders, kecklegs, kettle cases and kite’s legs’. Personally, I just call them beautiful!

New and noticed

02 Sunday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Bugle, Cleavers, Common vetch, Spring colour, spring wildflowers, Wood spurge, Woodruff

More luscious wildflowers have begun blooming in recent days. Here are some I’ve noticed:

210502 bugle (1)

As I witnessed when taking these photos, bumblebees adore Bugle (Ajuga reptans). I can’t think of a better reason to plant some in your own wildflower garden.

210502 common vetch

You can tell just by looking at its flower shape that Common vetch (Vicia sativa) is a member of the pea family. Apparently, in ancient times, people cultivated this plant and ate its seed pods, just as we do today with peas and beans.

210502 cleavers

I’ll bet you all have a bunch of names for this plant, Cleavers (Galium aparine). Sticky Willy is a favourite.

210502 woodruff

After I recognised the leaves of this plant, I revisited the spot in my local woodland each week until, finally, the beautiful flowers began to open. This is the sweet-smelling Woodruff (Galium odoratum).

210502 wood spurge

This plant was growing quite close to where I found the Woodruff and was a first sighting for me. Gardeners will, I’m sure, recognise it as a Euphorbia because Wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides) is the ancestor of today’s popular garden varieties of Spurge.

The Blackthorn is buzzing

23 Friday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring, trees

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blackthorn, Blackthorn blossom, British insects, British trees, insects on Blackthorn blossom, Spring colour

210420 8 bee sp

Flies and hoverflies, bumbles, bees and butterflies – all love feasting on Blackthorn blossom as much as I love watching them enjoying its bounty. And the blossom itself is so blindingly white it’s like a springtime snowfall when the petals fall to the ground.

The blues are back

21 Wednesday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

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blue butterflies, British butterflies, Holly blue, Spring colour

There’s something quite startling about a tiny blue creature flying through your field of vision – it’s certainly eyecatching. I saw my first Holly blue of the year during Sunday’s meander but that one didn’t linger for a photograph. Yesterday, in a location where I didn’t see any last year, they were like buses – I saw four in total, including these two that floated in together.

210421 holly blue

Wild in the woodland

18 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in spring, trees, walks, wildflowers

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Bluebells, British wildflowers, Herb-Paris, Lesser Celandine, Moschatel, Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, Spring colour, spring wildflowers, Wild garlic, Wood anemone, woodland wildflowers

I thought for this week’s Sunday wildflower post, I’d take you on a walk through parts of my local woodlands to show you some of the gorgeous plants a’blooming there at the moment. There are other wildflowers too, of course – Primroses, Violets, Dog’s-mercury, etc – but my video features Wild garlic, Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, Wood anemone, Herb-paris, Lesser celandine, Moschatel and Bluebells.

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

The Yellow challenge

11 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, spring, wildflowers

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#WildflowerHour, British wildflowers, Spring colour, yellow flowers, yellow wildflowers

This week’s Wildflower Hour challenge was to find yellow-flowered wildflowers currently in bloom. Here are my finds – a blast of spring sunshine to enjoy this Sunday evening:

210411 yellow (1)

Colt’s-foot, Dandelion, Gorse

210411 yellow (2)

Lesser celandine, Marsh marigold, Meadow buttercup

210411 yellow (3)

Groundsel, Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage (perhaps a bit of a stretch to say this is yellow, but it does have ‘golden’ in its name), Yellow archangel

210411 yellow (4)

Prickly sow-thistle, Cowslips, Ragwort

210411 yellow (5)

Pushing the envelope on these ones but … Alexanders (greenish-yellow), Primrose (buttery yellow), Pussy willow (not strictly a wildflower, but I’m having it)

Shades of pink and blue

04 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in nature

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Bluebells, British wildflowers, Cornsalad, Cuckooflower, Doves-foot cranes-bill, Ground ivy, Lords-and-ladies, Lungwort, Red dead-nettle, Spring colour

All of a sudden, the countryside has been splashed and daubed and sprinkled with these pretty shades of pink and blue.

210404 bluebells

Bluebell (Hyacinthoides sp.), not the native species but still pretty

210404 corn salad

Common Cornsalad (Valerianella locusta), also known as Lamb’s lettuce

210404 cuckooflower

Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis), which you might know as Milkmaids or Lady’s smock

210404 ground ivy

Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), this little beauty has some wonderful vernacular names, including Gill-over-the-ground and Run-away Robin

210404 lords and ladies

Lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum), another wildflower named for a bird: Cuckoopint

210404 lungwort

Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis), also known as Our Lady’s milk and Mary’s tears

210404 red dead-nettle

Red dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum), which seems to be under every hedge, along every woodland edge right now

210404 Round-leaved crane's-bill

Dove’s-foot crane’s-bill (Geranium molle), found growing around the base of a local power pole yesterday

Good Friday plant

02 Friday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in plants, spring, wildflowers

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Adoxa moschatellina, British wildflowers, Good Friday plant, Moschatel, Spring colour, Town Hall clock

This couldn’t have been more appropriate if I’d planned it, which I assure you I didn’t. Until yesterday’s wander through a local woodland, I’d never seen Moschatel before. Its scientific name is Adoxa moschatellina but one of its vernacular names is Good Friday plant, because it usually begins flowering at the beginning of April and is often first seen in bloom at Easter.

Another of its common names is Townhall clock, which Richard Mabey explains in Flora Britannica is because the small flowers ‘are arranged in a remarkable fashion, at right angles to one another, like the faces of a town clock – except that there is a fifth on top, pointing towards the sky’. My photos don’t show this very well so I might have to revisit to get more.