02 Sunday Feb 2025
Posted in flowers, wildflowers, winter
Some sub-zero overnight temperatures have knocked back many wildflowers but I was pleased still to find these 12 species in flower.
The first of this year’s Cow parsley, Creeping buttercup, and ever reliable Daisy
Dandelion, Field speedwell (I had to wait for some sunshine for these to open), and glorious Gorse
Groundsel, Honeysuckle (barely, but I’ll take it), and Lesser celandine
Primrose, Shepherd’s-purse, and the deliciously smelling Winter heliotrope
19 Sunday Jan 2025
Tags
British fungi, Elfcups, Sarcoscypha coccinea, Scarlet elfcups, winter colour, winter fungi, woodland fungi
I have no wildflowers for you this Sunday – there are still flowers to be found but I’ve found nothing new or particularly interesting, so today’s colour comes in the form of fungi instead.
I’ve been searching for elfcups since early December, the time of year I’ve begun to see them in the past. I used to see them in abundance at Cwm George in Dinas Powys but I suspect it’s been too wet for them there this winter, with the little stream having flooded the area where the fungi grow.
I had also looked for them in Cardiff’s Bute Park in December but seen no sign. So, I was exceedingly happy, when I visited there last week, to find good numbers had popped up on mossy logs throughout the little area of woodland.
I know from having checked samples under a microscope several years ago that these are Scarlet rather than Ruby elfcups (Sarcoscypha coccinea), and they are gorgeous.
05 Sunday Jan 2025
Posted in wildflowers
We’ve had torrential rain, light sleet showers, and heavy frosts, as you can see from the Daisy below.
And still the wildflowers open their delicate petals and brighten up my walks with their welcome pops of colour and dainty flowers. I found those shown below this past week so, strictly speaking, they’re not all from 2025, though I imagine most have survived this week’s wild weather.
The wildflowers above are Bramble, Dandelion, Gorse, Hoary mustard, Lesser celandine, Meadow buttercup, Primrose, Ragwort, Red clover, Sun spurge, Winter heliotrope, and Yarrow.
01 Sunday Dec 2024
Posted in wildflowers
Despite a cold snap, where even we who live in coastal south Wales saw light sleet showers, and then the blasting winds and drenching rain of Storm Bert, there are still a good number of wildflowers in bloom. These are the ones I’ve noticed this week:
Bramble, Cornsalad, Dandelion, Field scabious, Field speedwell, Gorse, Groundsel, Herb Robert, and Hoary mustard.
Hogweed, Ivy-leaved toadflax, Meadow buttercup, Meadow crane’s-bill, Musk mallow, Primrose, Purple toadflax, Common ragwort, and Red campion.
Red clover, Red valerian, Sea radish, Smooth sow-thistle, Tufted vetch, Wild carrot, Winter heliotrope, Yarrow, and Petty spurge.
11 Sunday Feb 2024
Posted in flowers, trees, wildflowers
Despite this having been a very wet week, the temperatures have been quite mild and, in some cases – as with the ornamental Cherry tree outside my flat, for example – I’ve felt like I could almost see the buds fattening. So, it comes as no surprise to me that, this week, I’ve managed to find ten species of wildflower and tree in flower: Alder, Field speedwell, Dandelion, Lesser celandine, Primrose, Wild strawberry, Sweet violet, Common fumitory, Three-cornered leek, and Red dead-nettle.
14 Sunday Jan 2024
Tags
Going, going, soon be gone! Given the voracious appetites of birds in the colder weather, those berries than still remain will soon be gone. So, I thought we’d have a change from wildflowers this week and, instead, enjoy some bright berry colours (and hips and haws and other berry-type fruit) before they all disappear into hungry mouths and beaks.
10 Wednesday Jan 2024
Posted in wildflowers, winter
Phenology: noun; the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life (Oxford Dictionary).
In 2020 I was amazed to find my first Lesser celandine of the ‘spring’ flowering on 8 January (First Lesser celandine of 2020). This year, I was even more amazed to find my first even before the turning of the year, on 29 December, and then located another two flowers at a different site on my 1 January walk around Cardiff Bay. The way our changing climate is affecting plant phenology (i.e. how flowering times are influenced by seasonal weather variations) is just crazy.
07 Sunday Jan 2024
Posted in wildflowers, winter
The wet and windy weather may have passed but now it feels more like proper winter, with daytime high temperatures in single digits. Still, there are wildflowers to be found in bloom, some that we would usually see in a couple of months time rather than this early in the year. These sixteen are those I found on a walk around the outskirts of my town yesterday and this morning.
26 Sunday Feb 2023
Posted in flowers, trees, wildflowers, winter
As another winter draws to a close, I thought I would document the plant and tree flowers currently in bloom in my little bit of south Wales.
12 Sunday Feb 2023
I have no new native wildflower blooms to share this week but I was captivated by the beauty of these Crocuses, growing under trees in a Cardiff park and thought you might enjoy them too.
earthstar 
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