Wildflowers

[ardcarp]

So it's OK to call snowdrops 'naturalised'?

[gradus]

I saw loads of them, probably more than is usual at this time, in a drive around Suffolk lanes a couple of days ago. Here they're quite widespread in deep-ish country some way from cultivated stocks, presumably seed is born on the wind or spread by animals/birds. They also seem to favour shady damp places like the banks of earth above a stream or marshy low-lying ground, rather like bluebells.

[ardcarp]

From a gardener's point of view, if one wants to divide a clump and perhaps move one part elsewhere, they 'take' best if done in flower, so I'm told.
Bluebells are funny things though. They are, as you say, usually associated with wooded shady places. However, once approaching Skoma (a treeless island off the Welsh coast, and a nesting ground for puffins and sheerwaters) from the sea it appeared to have a blue-ish-purple tinge. On close approach...and having anchored to walk round with the warden's permission....it was definitely covered in bluebells. What are they doing there out in the open, one wonders!

[oddoneout]

From a gardener's point of view, if one wants to divide a clump and perhaps move one part elsewhere, they 'take' best if done in flower, so I'm told.
Bluebells are funny things though. They are, as you say, usually associated with wooded shady places. However, once approaching Skoma (a treeless island off the Welsh coast, and a nesting ground for puffins and sheerwaters) from the sea it appeared to have a blue-ish-purple tinge. On close approach...and having anchored to walk round with the warden's permission....it was definitely covered in bluebells. What are they doing there out in the open, one wonders!

They have adapted to grow in wooded areas by ensuring their growth cycle is sufficiently completed before the leaf canopy reduces the light levels too much. That doesn't mean they can't grow in open sites, but they are more likely to face competition.

[cloughie]

Lovely album

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildflowers_(Judy_Collins_album)

[ardcarp]

Just back from our permitted ramble in local woods. Early purple orchids scattered among the myriad bluebells. Wild garlic out too.



Also patches of St Mark's flies...the ones with dangly back legs. Must be global warming...they're 5 days early!

[Serial_Apologist]

Just back from our permitted ramble in local woods. Early purple orchids scattered among the myriad bluebells. Wild garlic out too.



Also patches of St Mark's flies...the ones with dangly back legs. Must be global warming...they're 5 days early!

I can't imagine seeing orchids in London! However, the rest of what you have on display there is here in plentiful quantities; I have found quite a number of clumps of native bluebells, which, given this is a sign of healthy woodland, is a pleasant surprise.

[Joseph K]

Has anyone noticed spots of purple colour on daisies? I wonder what that's about.

[Serial_Apologist]

Has anyone noticed spots of purple colour on daisies? I wonder what that's about.

I think I've probably always half-noticed that, but not given it much importance? The two-year old in one of the upstairs flats has been leaving little circles of linked daisies on the lawn here - I'm keeping two metres away from them, avoiding getting a chain reaction...

[oddoneout]

Has anyone noticed spots of purple colour on daisies? I wonder what that's about.

The flowers often have red on the undersides, noticeable when the flower is closed, but I think that as the flower ages(is fertilised?) it also gets colour sometimes.

[Joseph K]

The flowers often have red on the undersides, noticeable when the flower is closed, but I think that as the flower ages(is fertilised?) it also gets colour sometimes.

[ardcarp]

Marsh orchid seen this afternoon. Plus...



...some ragged robin.

[ardcarp]

A clump of Three Cornered Leek is flowering in a lane near us. It is an early flowering plant...but December? Anyone else seen it yet. (It does favour areas near the sea.) As I think I mentioned somewhere else...probably ages ago....it was once described as 'rare, but locally abundant'. It seems to have become regarded as an invasive species:

https://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/home-garden/gardening/gardening-qa-how-can-i-stop-an-invasion-of-threecornered-leeks-a99336.html

I think they are lovely, and the 'triangular prism' shape of the flower stem is always a delight for kids to discover.

[gurnemanz]

A clump of Three Cornered Leek is flowering in a lane near us. It is an early flowering plant...but December? Anyone else seen it yet. (It does favour areas near the sea.) As I think I mentioned somewhere else...probably ages ago....it was once described as 'rare, but locally abundant'. It seems to have become regarded as an invasive species:

https://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/home-garden/gardening/gardening-qa-how-can-i-stop-an-invasion-of-threecornered-leeks-a99336.html

I think they are lovely, and the 'triangular prism' shape of the flower stem is always a delight for kids to discover.

We have some self-seeded borage still flowering in the front garden. Re invasive but attractive wild flowers, I fight an ongoing war against celandine.

[oddoneout]

We have some self-seeded borage still flowering in the front garden. Re invasive but attractive wild flowers, I fight an ongoing war against celandine.

I 'inherited' a large patch with this garden and at the original site it's much less of a problem for various reasons. However the fact it has those sneaky little bulbils means that it's got around the rest of the garden as it's impossible to get every last one out of soil moved with plants or material put on the compost heap. Its habit of dying down to sit out most of the year is also a good survival strategy as it makes for a very small window of opportunity to find and remove it. Both those factors are why, I think, the 3 cornered leek has become such a pest in some places.
Some years ago I visited a very old building on a Heritage Open Day that had a small garden at the back. At some point a volunteer gardener had put in said allium, and it has subsequently taken over, thanks in large part to ongoing gardening activities. Options for managing, such as putting the area down to lawn or hard surfacing, were either limited or ruled out by factors beyond the current users' control. Several visitors, including me, suggested learning to live with it, since it isn't visible and active all year round like couch grass or horsetail; plant up shrubs and perennials and don't try digging the leek out as that just spreads it. Cutting leaves off and not allowing it to seed reduces vigour and is not such hard work. It is edible so 'foraging' would be another way to reduce it, judging by what is happening to the likes of wild fungi...