May 8th – The one blossom that’s always overlooked, but is actually beautiful is Elder; elderflowers of course make great wine and soft drinks,not to mention the berries but the blooms look pretty too, and smell divine – all the more welcome as often elder grows in margins, edgelands and waste ground otherwise considered ugly.
Here on the cycleway at Goscote there’s a prolific and strong showing of the creamy white blossom which most be a good sign for the home-brew types this year too.
April 4th – Again at telford, just by the side of the cycleway, lots of this curious shrub – bright red leaves I think, rather than flowers with white, bell shaped blooms. Every year the pieris surprises me and this year it’s especially lovely.
So much coming into flower now, such a change from the grey days of winter, which were only a few weeks ago!
December 17th – In Lichfield, just in the gardens by Minster Pool, this fascinating yellow shrub, just coming into flower.
I’s so bright and so beautiful, it seems a shame it’s hidden in a corner where few would notice it.
What is it, does anyone know? It’s gorgeous.
November 25th – I have no idea what these lovely yellow flowers are, but a bush by the cycleway at Euston Way in Telford is covered in them. Such a cheerful, bright and unexpected joy after a dull, wet week.
Maybe this winter thing might work out after all…
November 17th – It felt a long way from Christmas on this sunny but chilly day, but I found something quite festive in Hortonwood: the holly and the ivy. The holly berries are bright red and plump, this year’s crop, and the holly leaves are so shiny and perfect the look at first glance like they might be made of plastic.
The ivy, creeping up the fence in front, is also rather beautiful.
An odd find on a gorgeous day.
November 15th – There seem to be some species of shrub and tree that are unique to commercial and trading estates, in that you only see them in the borders and copses there. These were in Tipton.
One such shrub is this one: laden with a huge quantity of bright red berries that the birds don’t seem to bother with much, I have no idea of it’s name.
Looks like another bumper crop this year, too.
June 23rd – On the canal at Darlaston, a flower I’m assuming is some kind of wild rose, although the flower itself looks a bit like a large blackberry bloom.
The flowers are wonderfully delicate and the centres a gorgeous shade of yellow.
Any ideas, anyone?
November 4th – In the afternoon, I again passed by these fascinating berries I recorded last week. Thanks to the genius of Susan Marie Ward, I can tell you that they’re actually a type of crab apple.
Yes, you read that right. A gosh-darned crab apple.
Read about this fascinating shrub here. Nature is amazing sometimes.
Thanks to Susan for that.
October 16th – Spotted in Wednesbury, a whole line of snowberry bushes. These low, still flowering shrubs are peppered with the globular, white berries that look quite beautiful.
I know of no other fruit like it. I assume it’s an import for ornamental reasons. It’s certainly one of the markers of autumn.
July 30th – Another plant mystery. Are these white currants of some kind? Large, glossy and surprisingly white, they’re growing in a hedge near Four Oaks.
Any ideas, please?
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