Signs Of Spring
In many places in the UK, spring has already begun. Frog spawn is already widespread in southern England, snowdrops and crocuses seem to be flowering everywhere, and more and more green shoots are poking through the bare ground. Very soon, you should be seeing the bright yellow lesser celandines in woods and hedgerows. These make the most of the light by opening their petals wide in the sunshine, until shade or cloud blocks it causing them to close.
By the end of March, there should be carpets of wood anemones in ancient woodlands with their beautiful large white flowers. Why not take a minute to look at the back of the flower? Where the stem meets the petals there can be a blush of colour from pale pink right through to a bluey-purple and it varies on each plant.
But these are only a couple of examples - many woodland plants flower early in the spring to make the most of the sunshine before the tree leaves block much of it out.
Some trees also follow this strategy:
Blackthorn flowers come out before their leaves around March, the white flowers making striking contrast with the purple-black stems.
Ash is another tree that flowers before the leaves appear, but you will have to look closely because its flowers are really just a cluster of short purplish stamens.
Hazel is also confusing - many of us may be used to see the catkins or ‘lambs tails’ hanging on trees from January. Did you know these are the male flowers of the tree? To make the hazelnuts the pollen from the catkins has to find its way to a female flower, which looks more like leaf buds with a tiny red tip.
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My thoughts: Visit a bluebell wood when you can before they vanish under a carpet of greens and browns!
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