Spotting flowers growing wild in South East UK
A wild flower for Mothers Day Primroses grow en masse along the country lanes of Sussex, especially on grassy roadside banks near Battle. Thirty years ago, back when it was OK to pick wildflowers, my husband used to pick a posy for his Mum to celebrate Mothers Day. I am writing this a week before…
A buttery yellow wildflower We have a community pond at the end of our road, and at this time of year its edges are a sea of yellow with celandine flowers. They seem to love the damp conditions, and the shade provided by a small stand of trees edging the footpath. The buttery yellow blooms,…
This wild flower heralds the coming of Spring The tricky thing about snowdrops for someone like me who is not a botanist, is distinguishing between native wildflowers and garden escapees. These extremely delicate examples of Galanthus were found a long way from any gardens, growing in rough grass about 5m from a road. The stems…
Viola flowers are a sweet Spring treat This lovely little flower face has a beautifully sweet fragrance and is blessedly common here in Sussex. They are often seen on grassy banks, but this one was photographed in flat rough grass by the side of the road. I love to crystallize and eat cultivated violets, which…
I love the tiny blue flowers of speedwell Each short-lived flower is about 1cm across and sky blue in colour, with a few flowers per spike. There is a white centre, and it has prominent stamens. The flowers are so eyecatching among the fresh green grass. In the language of flowers it is associated with…
Daisy flowers have many names This common white flower with an iconic yellow centre is known common daisy, lawn daisy, English daisy and bruisewort. I hear that historically it was traditional to mash up flowers & apply to broken veins in face to improve complexion. I have no idea whether this has any modern validity!…