Tag: wild

#365daysofbiking Dark centre

July 18th – Yesterday, I found a plant that I considered may be wild carrot due to the presence of a tiny, dark flower in the centre of it’s otherwise creamy white umbrel. I wrote:

The reason I think this is wild carrot is the presence of a tiny dark flower in the centre of the head to attract insects – I’ll have another look tomorrow to verify this.

That is definitely a tiny, dark purple flower, so this plant is indeed wild carrot. Another baffling, wondrous feature you have to wonder the path towards.

This lovely wildflower was certainly keeping the overflies busy too.

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#365daysofbiking There’s always carrots

July 17th – Looking back over previous years, this prolific plant in various places has been puzzling me for ages – but I think I’ve sussed it: It’s possibly Queen Anne’s lace, or wild carrot.

This example was growing on the industrial estate where I work near Darlaston.

It looks a lot like the familiar cow parsley, but isn’t: The shape is all wrong.

The reason I think this is wild carrot is the presence of a tiny dark flower in the centre of the head to attract insects – I’ll have another look tomorrow to verify this. The plant itself is edible like normal carrots, but only when young. It has a variety of folkloric uses, including as a contraceptive, apparently.

I think I’m closer to solving this one.

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#365daysofbiking Purple haze

June 4th – The orchid season is upon us, and two spotted miles apart: The tall purple one (about 12 inches high) is the one spotted in the patch by the canal in Walsall Wood last week: It’s developed beautifully.

The second is a random lone soldier spotted beside the cycleway at Telford station: In the lovely pink-purple colour you can really see the gorgeous patterns on the petals.

Both seem to be northern marsh orchids but I’m certainly no expert.

Beautiful flowers and some of my favourites – only here for a few short weeks so if you want to find some, get out now.

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#365daysofbiking Held to ramson

April 28th – At Pipe Hill, between Wall and Burntwood it’s nice to see the wild garlic inn bloom again.

I really love this beautiful, edible plant – sometimes known as ramsons it tastes and can be used just like a little more subtle normal garlic, and it’s scent hangs heavy around woodland, hedgerows and damp ground far and wide.

One of the most popular posts on this journal featured the glade of wild garlic that grows by the River Arrow in Redditch with over 18,000 reactions since it was posted in 2011.

It seems I’m not the only one who likes wild garlic!

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#365daysofbiking An venerable old lady

April 8th – Returning home at gone 7pm in grey light, I spotted this elderly lady watching me from the open space in North Street.

I suspect she’d been having a standoff with a factory cat from the yard over the road.

She looks in good condition and wasn’t fazed by me at all.

Beautiful animal, and a pleasure to see.

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#365daysofbiking An overlooked gem

March 29th – With all the showy colours and dramatic blossoms of spring, it’s easy to forget one prolific, pretty little flower that’s hardy, populous, yet delicate and pretty – the humble daisy.

Peppering any open grass right now – whether it be roadside verge, field, sports pitch or domestic garden, these hardy little souls are everywhere, just trying to cheer us up.

These lovely examples were worshipping the spring sunshine on a verge just by Brownhills High Street.

Never overlook the small stuff. It’s very important.

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#365daysofbiking Flowers of the night

March 1st – It had been a dreadful day and I had to nip out late on an errand into Brownhills. As I crossed the Silver Street pedestrian bridge, I was struck by the effect of the sodium lights on the wild plum blossom nearby.

That really cheered me up. Happiness can be found in the oddest of places.

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#365daysofbiking Hocus crocus

February 17th – It was a decent enough afternoon – periodically grey and sunny with the odd shower, but mostly bright, so I decided to head out for a ride, hitting a glorious golden hour.

I called in at St Annes Cemetery in Chasetown to check on the remarkable crocus display that always happens here and wasn’t disappointed. It was truly gorgeous.

One thing that does interest me here: All the wild crocuses like this seem to be shades of purple and white, but not yellow.

Wonder why?

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#365daysofbiking Slipping the reins

Christmas Day – Just lately my deer magnet has been very poor – I hadn’t seen deer close enough to get a decent photograph for weeks if not months.

Luckily, I spotted these fine reds in the scrub at Chasewater North Heath just by the bypass. I gently ushered them over the trail and back into the park – for all the good it will do.

We don’t have reindeer wild here, but the reds made a special Christmas treat. Good to see them.

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#365daysofbiking Galling:

October 17th – I’ve been casually interested into the decomposition of the robin’s pincushion gall I found in the summer in Darlaston.

This once beautiful red and green hairy, spiny gall – created by a tiny wasp laying it’s DNA corrupting eggs in the rose leaf buds of it’s host – is now decaying fast and I’m interested to see how this ball of plant matter wastes away, and if it shows any evidence of the adult gall wasps escaping to freedom.

I’ll never stop being fascinated by these things.