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
Agapanthe?
ReplyDeleteYou are correct Naomi - we disembarked from the ferry and headed straight for Jardins Agapanthe and a tour with Alexandre Thomas himself. He gave me that jar of jam as well!
DeleteOh you were spoilt for choice there VP. Looking forward to reading all about your garden visits.
ReplyDeleteWe were indeed Anna!
DeleteOh my, it looks fun though!
ReplyDeleteIt was! Still getting my head around it all :)
DeleteEnjoying all the photos. Looks like fun :) x
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen, it was a lot of fun. Tiring though! :)
DeleteI still cannot understand how youboth had the energy to visit up to five gardens in one day! That's an incredible rate of garden bothering, it really is.
ReplyDeleteHaving completed the map now, I find it hard to believe myself! We're slackers though, we ran out of time for the Garden Greeter tour of the public gardens in Chartres (it was raining, so we felt less guilty about it!) ;)
DeleteLooks like you had a wonderful time in France!
ReplyDeleteYes, we did thanks. We'll be talking about this for months if not years to come :)
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