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
Most of our native trees are evergreen and I have to say I miss the beautiful Autumnal colour changes you get in Europe. Just spectacular.
ReplyDeleteLovely, the leaves at the feet of the tree form a reflecting pool of gold.
ReplyDeleteI could almost say snap, but ours is orange! And our lawn is burgundy, as the Prunus has suddenly decided to drop most of its leaves in one whoosh.
ReplyDeleteLovely to see your yellow. There's nothing like autumn colour :-D
PS Thanks for embedding the comment form - I do like to be able to scroll up and look at the post while I'm commenting on it. Having suggested it, I now need to do the same myself ...
Liz - thank you :)
ReplyDeleteHillwards - you have added some lovely words to my 'Wordless' :D
Juliet - I love how there's enormous pools of colour on the ground at the moment. It'll soon be swept away here as our forecast says windy for tomorrow. Your part of the country is about the only bit not covered by a flood warning on the Env Agency's map at the moment!
There's pros and cons with the Comment Form options - I don't like how there's an enormous gap to my comments welcome and policy on this form, but both you and Karen quite rightly pointed out I was making you remember what I'd written by using the Full Page option, so Embedded it shall be for now.
Oh such golden deliciousness VP.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful picture! I am finding that autumn can be just as beautiful as spring!
ReplyDeleteThanks Anna and Sandie :)
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