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 ...
So So Pretty!
ReplyDeleteThanks Clint :)
ReplyDeleteThey're at Dyrham Park - we visited over the Easter Holiday. They have a tulip festival there for the whole of April.
I love absolutely everything about this picture. The colours are beautiful together and the warm sandstone of the house just sets them off. Never been to Dyrham Park, but I'm definitely putting it on my list now...
ReplyDeleteA tulip festival!
ReplyDeleteGreat!
Happy Wordless Wednesday!
Lea
Lea's Menagerie
Gorgeous display...love how the white tulips accent the other colors...looks like pansies...
ReplyDeleteHannah - welcome! It's well worth a visit :)
ReplyDeleteLea - Dyrham Park has lots of Delft pottery, including vases designed specifically for displaying tulips.
Donna - well spotted, pansies are part of the display :)
Dyrham Park tweeted me yesterday to say the the white tulips will be replaced by red ones. There's a succession of different tulips planted in the beds to prolong the display. Clever stuff :)
Beautiful! x
ReplyDeleteIt looks lovely. Much better to admire the result of someone else doing the hard work. I am much too lazy to do that kind of planting (assuming I had any space to do it in!)
ReplyDeletecitybumpkin - lovely to see you again Rach and congratulations on City Bump number 2!
ReplyDeleteEG - I went to The Organic Garden at Holt Farm on Friday and there's a fab bulb display there too. Great to see the results there as they were just putting the bulb order in when I last visited in August!