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
Lovely pictures! Will post a link in my autumn colours post.
ReplyDeleteThanks Charlotte, quite a few people have galloped over to have a look :-)
DeleteOne of the best places to be for autumn colours :) Great shots!
ReplyDeleteMarvellous pics, it's a great place to go.
ReplyDeleteWonderful colours. It's a terrific place to visit, especially at this time of year. Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to going there next week with my children :) Am most definitely packing my camera :)
ReplyDeleteHello and welcome :-) Have a great time!
DeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteWow, breathtaking colour. I've enjoyed a couple of autumn trips to Westonbirt when my youngest two were at pre-school. It was a really cheap trip, I think it's probably too expensive for us now, but we really loved visiting together on the coach. Your photos are fantastic, no doubt you had a lovely time there.
ReplyDeleteThe entrance fee is on par with National Trust properties these days. However there was alot on when we were there which made it good value.
DeleteBeautiful! I wish I'd been able to see it in person.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos, I' ve always wanted to go there in Autumn. Lucky you.
ReplyDeleteI live just a few miles away, so yes I am lucky.
DeleteThanks for your comments everyone, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos :-)
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know more beautiful season than autumn ? Even though spring has such magnificent colors ... Perfect pictures!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jolanta and welcome to Veg Plotting :)
DeleteWe went yesterday - colour was glorious, but it was soooo crowded, not really ideal for me. Either it was much emptier when you were there, or you were very patient waiting for people to move out of your photos!
ReplyDeleteWe went to Batsford on Wednesday, which also has wonderful colour at this time of year.
The car park was packed but people seemed to disperse so quickly. I suspect it'll be really crowded this week as it's half term. I went to Batsford in the spring and the leaf colour was pretty good back then too :)
DeleteI haven't made it there this year, although frustratingly, I've driven past a couple of times on my way to do other things. Even from the road it looks amazing - and this has not been a great year for autumn colour. Thanks for the virtual visit!
ReplyDeleteThe Acer Glade in the old arboretum and the maples in Silk Wood are the places to go Victoria. There's a very interesting climate change experiment in Silk Wood too.
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