Seaford walks in early Spring

Health walks around town spotting wild flowers

February was a very wet month and there wasn’t much to see, after all the early bloomers in January, so I’ve lumped it together with March. It has been very mild though and I don’t think there has been any frost round here for a few weeks.

snowdrops blatchington pond seaford feb 2020 — Snowdrops – Galanthus nivalis – Managed area at Blatchington pond Seaford – Feb 2020

primrose blatchington hill seaford feb 2020 — Primrose – Primula vulgaris – Blatchington Hill Seaford – Feb 2020

white comfrey blatchington hill seaford feb 2020 — White comfrey – Symphytum orientale – Blatchington Hill Seaford – Feb 2020

Revisiting wild plants throughout their life cycle

Because I repeat the same walk at least once a week, I see the different stages of a plants life. I think this is useful for identification, because it means I’m more likely to be able to identify a species when it’s not in flower. If you look back through my blog, you will see I’ve visited some of these plants repeatedly.

There are always interesting insects on the alexanders, be they bees, hoverflies, flies or ladybirds:

alexanders landsdown rd seaford mar 2020 — Insects on Alexanders – Smyrnium olusatrum – Landsdown Rd Seaford – Mar 2020

There are a lot of celandines around my way – not every patch looks good every year, but there’s always a gorgeous little patch somewhere:

celandines Ficaria verna march 2020 — Celandines – Ficaria verna – Alfriston Rd Seaford – March 2020

I pass this ivy leaved toadflax every time I use the twitten next to the allotments. Last time it was wet with rain and only just coming into flower – this time it’s in full flower and has a herb robert seedling in its midst:

ivy leaved toadflax seaford allotments march 2020 — Ivy leaved toadflax – Cymbalaria muralis – probably the same plant as Jan – Seaford allotments – Mar 2020

After the first feeble flowers of cow parsley in January, it’s now springing up all along the roadside:

cow parsley alfriston rd seaford mar 2020 — Cow parsley continues to proliferate – Anthriscus sylvestris – Alfriston Rd – Seaford – Mar 2020

This bulbous buttercup plant is one I identified with the help of my twitter friends in May 2018:

buttercup alfriston rd seaford mar 2020 — Bulbous buttercup – Ranunculus bulbosus – Alfriston Rd Seaford – Mar 2020

This patch of speedwell was just coming into flower when I passed it in January:

Speedwell Veronica persica Alfriston Rd Seaford Mar 2020 — Speedwell – Veronica persica – Alfriston Rd Seaford – Mar 2020

I always have my eye open for alkanet, the blue is so clear:

green alkanet landsdown rd seaford mar 2020 — Green Alkanet – Pentaglottis sempervirens – Landsdown Rd Seaford – Mar 2020

More violets

There are still plenty of the plain purple sweet violet about, although they are starting to disappear into the grass and foliage in some of the verges. But this white one by the side of the road was rather nice:

white violets alfriston rd verge seaford mar 2020 — White violets – probably Viola odorata – Alfriston Rd verge – Seaford – Mar 2020

There were a few clumps of these paler violets too. They tended towards the pinker shades rather than the bluer ones spotted a few weeks back. Probably another sweet violet:

violet alfriston rd seaford mar 2020 — Sweet violet – Viola odorata – Alfriston Rd Seaford – Mar 2020

Trying not to ignore the everyday blooms

I photographed red dead-nettle and shepherds purse, but couldn’t bring myself to stop for sow thistle, dog mercury, dandelions, groundsel, or pellitory of the wall. Maybe one day when I’m out and about with a bigger lens.

red dead nettle alfriston rd seaford mar 2020 — Red dead-nettle – Lamium purpureum – Alfriston Rd Seaford – Mar 2020

shepherds purse alfriston rd seaford mar 2020 — Shepherds purse – Capsella bursa-pastoris – Alfriston Rd Seaford – Mar 2020

Cultivated wildflowers at Michelham Priory

The physic garden at Michelham Priory (a few miles down the road) is a good example of how native plants might have been curated in times past for their medicinal effects. I have never spotted coltsfoot in the wild, so it was good to see it there. And it was good to see bees on the daisy.