That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it ...
I like this a lot - both the photos individually and also how they seem to have some kind of narrative together! It's like a little time capsule.
ReplyDeleteThis is great.
ReplyDeleteI particularly like the old mill sign.
K
Hey nice little collection :o)
ReplyDeleteI wander how many people will get the tinsel town reference though?
Can't wait for the film to come out.
Word verification:
hily shte
Am I allowed to say that on here?!
VP, Great signs...loved "take an old bag to work" and how very timely to show the English honey label (last) when you've shared with us that this month the national supply might run dry!
ReplyDeleteLoved it, VeeP! Shows us on this side of the pond how it goes over there, very different than our signs of the times would be.
ReplyDeleteFrances
great slide show. i esp. liked the red 'cat'!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite would just have to be "I'm in the garden..." Thanks for sharing them all.
ReplyDeleteSome real gems there VP. Thanks for the show. Having worked with young people for years challenging stereotypes it was great to see the 'A.& M.Jones & daughter - Engineers' sign. I will pop over to your other blogs soon.
ReplyDeleteI still have not been successful in finding any sweat and sour sauce in this neck of the
woods !
Sarah - that's exactly what I was trying to do :)
ReplyDeleteKaren - the whole place was lovely. Well worth another visit next year.
Dave - thanks for calling back and for Following :) I'm looking forward to the film too. And what a result re the WV - one of my favourites so far along with the ifukdt I got a while ago ;)
Gail - the old bag is a recycling campaign at our local supermarket, but I think NAH just bought it home to annoy me ;)
Frances - glad you liked it. It's good to step outside the garden once in a while. And I hope you didn't mind your 'sign' making another appearance?
petoskystone - that's one of my favourites too
Tina - that's what Frances won earlier on this year from my Open Garden fundraiser and was donated to me by another blogger. I felt it needed another outing :)
Anna - I was blown away when I went to a girls' school once as the teachers wanted me there as I was 'a good role model to show that science can be for girls'. Role model? Me?