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
Maybe I should have one of these on the plot to use up some of the rubbishy odds and ends stacked up
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd done this when I had a stack of pallets on the plot.
DeleteI love bug hotels. The grandchildren and I have just made one on the allotment.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea :)
DeleteFantastic idea, it would work well in my garden as bees love my flowers and there is so many of them :)
DeleteThey should indeed! Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteOh it's wonderful. I've been meaning to make some insect friendly things for a while now. This one is the Ritz!
ReplyDeleteThey're really easy to make :)
DeleteSeconded! :)
ReplyDeleteFlighty and Anna - hurrah!
ReplyDeleteI'm thrilled that Alys Fowler retweeted this yesterday, saying 'Hear, hear' :)
That is great! I love Alys's approach to gardening :)
DeleteMe too :)
DeleteBrilliant. And Alys approves too!
ReplyDeleteYay!
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