June 15th – Noticed on a grass verge in Wednesbury, this fine crop of toadstools.I think they’re roundheads, but I didn’t have time to study them closely. But you know you’re advancing through summer when the shrooms are out.
I love to see fungus – such a fascinating, misunderstood part of the ecosystem.
July 3rd – Ragwort, or stinking willie, is currently abundant in scrubs, verges, towpaths and edge lands throughout the area. It’s a lovely yellow plant that really isn’t appreciated as much as it should be. Although quite poisonous to some creatures (including horses) it’s not a serious danger to humans, and is so beautiful sunny and yellow.
It may be a week, but like dandelions, it’s one of the most beautiful plants of the summer.
June 19th – I swung past the island on the Warrenhouse at 221 Hay, where the Lichfield Road meets Barracks Lane. I was heading to Stonall, but the display of flowers on the verge caught my eye.
I’m not sure who plants the verge here, whether it’s the garden centre or vets – both nearby – but it’s always beautiful, no matter what time of year you look.
At the moment, poppies are the order of the day. Huge poppies, of several different colours. But other flowers are in the mix too, and it’s just a wonderful, chaotic riot of colour.
I’m sure many drivers pass this by unnoticed; I commend you not to. It’s a fantastic thing, so why not take a look next time you’re in the area?
May 25th – As we advance to late spring and early summer, some of my favourite flowers are emerging now; birds foot trefoil ‘egg and bacon’, buttercups, elderflowers and ox-eye daisies all brighten the verges, hedgerows and edge lands of my commute.
Such lovely flowers. How I love this busy, colourful time of year.
April 14th – Another sign of spring is the roadsalt-loving Danish scurvy grass in bloom. This odd little plant has moved onto highway fringes normally burned and hostile due to winter gritting – but this wee plant loves the salt, and thrives.
This gives a lovely white fringe to roads, motorways and dual carriageways throughout the country at this time of year.
No matter how hostile an environment, nature always finds a way to exploit it.
April 7th – Passing through Telford mid morning, I passed a bank of daffodils on an embankment near the cycleway. There were were several varieties of the flower here – normal types, some lovely feathery yellow ones, white ones and others with beautiful orange centres. They were an absolute joy to the heart after a few bad commutes – as were the beautiful polyanthus in the planter at Telford station.
This is a very unusual spring, but the usually short lived spring flowers seem to have been in bloom for ages now, and i like that very much. After the darkness of winter, it’s always good to see a fine display of these gorgeous plants.
March 24th – Passing through Wednesbury, I noticed this bank of daffodils by an industrial estate verge. Now that’s a fine thing and I was very happy to see them, then I noticed that amongst the standard yellow variety, there was white too.
I wonder if that was a happy accident or a genetic mutation? Whatever the cause, a delight to the soul for sure.
March 18th – Struggling up Shire Oak Hill after nipping to Stonnall I noticed the flowers at the roadside that were bringing colour to a very dull evening. Plenty of fresh daffodils, of course, but this year the snowdrops seem to have held on forever. Not sure if all these are actually snowdrops, though: they’re very similar but shaped more like a harebell. Can anyone help, please?
Whatever they were, they eased my haul up the hill…
January 1st – New Years Day 2016, and the weather is so unseasonably temperate that calendula are flowering on the verge in Barracks Lane, just at the Warrenhouse, near Brownhills. And they aren’t the only thing.
I welcome the colour and cheerfulness, but this can’t be right, can it?
November 20th – I passed these pine cones on a roadside path on an industrial estate in Great Bridge. They are the largest I’ve ever seen – almost two inches in diameter and seven to eight inches long, they seem untouched by birds and squirrels. They feel quite heave and dense and wonder if they’re ripe or just premature windfalls from the recent storms.
Fascinating fruits that look almost prehistoric.
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