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Tag Archives: spring wildflowers

117/366 It’s Pea time

26 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, wildflowers

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Tags

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)

200426 Common vetch

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).

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103/366 A week of new wildflowers

12 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

British wildflowers, Cleavers, Cowslip, False oxlip, Garlic mustard, Ground ivy, Lords-and-ladies, spring wildflowers, Yellow archangel

Spring is really starting to ramp up a notch now – shame we can’t get out and enjoy more time in the wild world. Still, if I choose the right route for my daily exercise walk, I can still hear the birds and see the flowers, and I appreciate them now even more than I usually do. Here’s a catch up with the latest plants I’ve found in flower this week.

200412 1 cleavers

Cleavers (Galium aparine) : I’m sure everyone has their own favourite among the wide variety of common names for this plant: Sticky Bob, Kisses, Goosegrass are just a few – take your pick, or tell me what you call it.

200412 2 cowslip
200412 3 false oxlip

I’m lumping these two together as a comparison: on the left is Cowslip (Primula veris) and on the right is False oxlip (Primula veris x vulgaris), the hybrid of Cowslip and Primrose. I’ve previously had trouble identifying these correctly but one clue I’ve read recently is that Cowslip flowers all nod in a single direction, whereas False oxlips flop around in all directions.

200412 4 garlic mustard

Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) : these lovely plants seem almost to have sprung up overnight under every local hedgerow. You may know them by one of their vernacular names, Jack-by-the-hedge.

200412 5 lords-and-ladies

Lords-and -ladies (Arum maculatum), another plant with a ‘Jack’ vernacular name, in this case Jack-in-the-pulpit. I’ve seen so many leaves of these plants and quite a few sheathed flowers but, this week, I finally saw some open flowers.

200412 6 Yellow archangel

Yellow archangel (Lamium galeobdolon) : these may well have been a garden escape as they were growing along a lane near a large area of allotments but I’m still counting them. From their appearance, it’s easy to tell that these are part of the Dead-nettle family (my favourite kinds of nettles!).

200412 7 ground ivy

Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) : I found these decorating the edges of the same lane as the Yellow archangel, down low beneath the brambles and assorted shrubs and bushes. And, also like the Yellow archangel, Ground ivy is a member of the Dead-nettle family.

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96/366 On the wall

05 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#wallplants, #WildflowerHour, British wildflowers, spring wildflowers, wildflowers growing on walls

This week’s WildflowerHour challenge was to find wildflowers, in bloom, growing on walls. You might think walls would be inhospitable places for plants to grow but it turns out that rather a lot of our British wildflowers relish life on a wall. It’s certainly a good place for a plant to find shelter, and a wall might also supply reflected or stored heat so, for those plants that are able to push their roots into tiny cracks and crevices and don’t mind a life of hanging around, a wall can be an ideal habitat.
Here are the wall-bound wildflowers I found during this week’s exercise walks: Daisy, Dandelion species, Forget-me-not, Groundsel, Herb Robert. Ivy-leaved toadflax (this seems to be growing in abundance on every local wall!), Red valerian, and, my favourite, Yellow corydalis.

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78/366 Dainty beauties

18 Wednesday Mar 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

British wildflowers, Cardamine pratensis, Cuckooflower, Lady's smock, spring wildflowers

Yesterday’s star finds, during a walk around Grangemoor Park, were my first Cuckooflowers of 2020. They’re such dainty little beauties and, with a newly arrived Chiffchaff calling in the trees behind, it felt like Spring really had arrived.

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104/365 Peggles, paigles

14 Sunday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British wildflowers, Cowslip, False oxslips, Paigles, Peggles, spring wildflowers

I know these gorgeous wildflowers as Cowslips but they have a wealth of other names, including Hey-flowers, Peggles, Paigles, Culverkeys and Bunch of keys, according to the entry in my Flora Britannica. Perhaps you know other local names for them.

190414 cowslips (1)
190414 cowslips (2)

One thing I didn’t know until today is that the name Cowslip is a euphemism for ‘cow-slop’ or cow pat because these lovely blooms often grow best in fields that have been well ‘fertilised’ by cows.

p.s. My Facebook friend George has very kindly corrected my flower identification: ‘The first and last photos are false oxlips rather than true cowslips, these are hybrids between cowslips and primroses and have slightly bigger, paler and more open flowers.’ I must pay more attention next time I’m looking at wildflowers!

190414 cowslips (3)
190414 cowslips (4)

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94/365 Wet and wild

04 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British flora, British wildflowers, spring wildflowers, wildflowers in bloom

We’re in the grip of a wintery blast here at the moment, though without the snow my friends in the Valleys have (not) been enjoying. Luckily, I managed to time my stroll around the local parks to coincide with a break in the heavy rain and hail showers, searching for whichever wildflowers I could find in bloom. They’re all rather damp but I quite like them adorned with raindrops.

wild strawberry
wild strawberry
cow parsley
cow parsley
violet
violet
ivy-leaved toadflax
ivy-leaved toadflax
dandelion
dandelion
three-cornered leek
three-cornered leek
lesser celandine
lesser celandine
forget-me-not
forget-me-not
grape hyacinth
grape hyacinth
red valerian
red valerian
primrose
primrose
daisy
daisy

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82/365 First Bluebells

23 Saturday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

blue flowers, Bluebell, spring flowers, spring wildflowers, springtime

Almost …

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Nearly there …

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Yes! My first Bluebells of the year today in St Augustine’s churchyard in Penarth.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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Some crane’s bills

11 Friday May 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

British wildflowers, crane's bills, geranium, Geranium lucidum, Geranium Robertianum, Geranium rotundifolium, Herb Robert, Round-leaved crane's-bill, Shining crane's-bill, spring flowers, spring wildflowers

The word geranium comes from the Greek geranos, meaning crane, so named because of the likeness of the plant’s seed case to the bill of the bird. Thus, in the plant world, the crane’s-bills are the wild geraniums.

180511 round-leaved crane's-bill

’Tis the time the geraniums begin to bloom and I’m trying to learn which is which, so I thought I’d share a few I’ve found during recent perambulations. The first is the Round-leaved crane’s-bill (Geranium rotundifolium).

180511 herb robert

This next is the one most people can name. It seems to grow almost anywhere and makes even a rubbish heap look beautiful: Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum).

180511 shining crane's-bill

At a quick glance, this Shining crane’s-bill (Geranium lucidum) looks a lot like Herb Robert … and then you notice how different the leaves are.

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More blooming wildflowers

04 Friday May 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bluebell, British wildflowers, Cowslip, Garlic mustard, Ground ivy, Ivy-leaved toadflax, Sow thistle, spring wildflowers, Wild garlic

The Spring sunshine has been a little sparse in recent weeks but the wildflowers are slowly continuing to appear. Here are some recent finds …

180504 1 bluebells

I couldn’t resist including more Bluebells (Hyacinthoides sp.) as they really encapsulate Spring for so many people.

180504 2 cowslip

First come the primroses, then these beauties take over: Cowslips (Primula veris).

180504 3 Garlic mustard

You may know it as ‘Jack-by-the-hedge’, so-named for its love of a shady spot by a hedge, this is Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata).

180504 4 ground ivy

Don’t forget to look down low for this burst of purple goodness. It’s Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea). 

180504 6 ivy-leaved toadflax

Blooming now on a wall near you, Ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis). 

180504 9 Sow thistle

Part of the large and mightily confusing dandelion family, this is one of the Sow thistles (Sonchus sp.).

180504 10 wild garlic

If you go down to the woods today, make sure you take a peg for your nose … unless, like me, you love the smell of Wild garlic (Allium ursinum).

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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