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 took a picture of snowdrops in Hyde Park on Monday!
ReplyDeleteLu - there are snowdrops which flower at this time of the year, though having said that my 'normal' ones were flowering before Christmas last year! I think these have been fooled into flowering early too.
ReplyDeleteoh my what a wonderful surprise
ReplyDeleteWell they certainly brighten things up. I keep forgetting some flower early.
ReplyDeleteBTW - I liked the word snizzle - very appropriate :-)
They have obviously been talking to my poppies!
ReplyDeleteYikes, poor confused things. It looks so wrong too, daffs being so "essence of spring".
ReplyDeleteDonna - surprise yes, but I don't think they should be blooming just yet. Does anyone know of a December blooming daffodil variety like we have in the snowdrop line?
ReplyDeleteEG - I LOVE the word snizzle :)
Dobby - absolutely ;)
Janet - I wonder if this happens regularly in Cornwall?