March
Staying local this March, I have been on lots of short walks in and around Seaford. I looked back on my blog post from this time last yearAMP and noticed that a few things I’d spotted then aren’t yet in flower. Plants I thought I might see but haven’t spotted in flower yet are: ivy leaved toadflax, Cymbalaria muralis; bulbous buttercup, Ranunculus bulbosus; and three-cornered garlic, Allium triquetrum.
There is a little patch of grass on the corner with The Byeways. There are a few planted daffodils there, which are joined by red deadnettle – Lamium purpureum, chickweed – Stellaria media, and shepherds purse – Capsella bursa-pastoris. Later in the month, there is also common field speedwell – Veronica persica.
Blatchington pond is at the bottom of Blatchington Hill. The hill has a pretty bank with some primroses and celandines at this time of year. Unfortunately it’s difficult to get a pic due to the traffic!
I think this bank of primroses is actually attached to someones house, and it’s very pretty. The ipheion flower was growing in the pavement. It’s a garden escapee that I’ve seen in a few places in that road.
I sometimes walk out of town on the Alfriston Rd towards Landsdown Rd. Landsdown Rd has a mix of cultivated and wild flowers on some common ground. There are planted pampas and snowdrops, but I see a lot of wildflowers too, like the alexanders and celandines.
The tree blossom I saw was new to me and could have been planted, considering its location. Blackthorn often flowers early, but the blooms were larger than those, and I couldn’t see any thorns. Luckily it was mentioned in the Seaford Naural History Society newsletter on the 15th March this year. Cherry plum, Prunus cerasifera, has been spotted in flower in that local area, and there was help in the newsletter with identifying it. Apparently the sepals are reflexed on the cherry plum, but on my specimen it seemed to be some and some. I did a google image search which confirmed it as a reasonable candidate.